Scotland on Sunday reports

The Scots went into yesterday's penultimate round of the IRB World Series at RFU headquarters with a grand total of nil points, having spectacularly failed to make any impression on the competition this season, their best "result" being a semi-final place in the Bowl in Hong Kong.

Yet a year ago at the Edinburgh Sevens, Scotland were up there with the top sides in the world, coming within an ace of reaching their first ever final, and denied only by a late try from South Africa.

Then came this season. It began with a poor display in Dubai that had Scottish supporters curling their toes in embarrassment. And it never really got much better. Why have Scotland slipped to such a low level?

The answer certainly has little to do with the coach, Stephen Gemmell, who has proved that with a decent squad he can take on the top sides. And that is the nub of the problem. Gemmell has to play with the cards he is dealt and sadly this season, they have not added up to a strong hand.

Gemmell knows what is required. "What we need is consistency in selection," he says. "It's difficult right now as we know finances are tight."

Too often Gemmell has had to work with young and inexperienced players in a squad which lacks that essential core of older players. The real reason, however, for Scotland's unsuccessful first six tournaments, has been a lack of direction from Murrayfield. Sevens, it seems, has suffered from a policy vacuum, its place in Scottish rugby undefined.

Scotland did appear to moving in the right direction when they made a "squad" of players for this season. But that squad added up to only three contracted players, when what was needed were ten dedicated sevens players able to train for the short game.

Scotland's attempt to regain lost ground quickly looked a hopeless cause after the Scots crashed to a 43-7 defeat against Australia in their opening tie. This Scotland side looked off-the-pace and out of tune with the sevens game.

Australia, who had a hat-trick from Clinton Sills and two tries from Henry Vanderglas, won easily. For Scotland Scott Forrest, John Houston and Turnbull ran in tries but they were as consolation scores only.

Against England, Scotland displayed their habitual weakness of failing to secure the ball at restarts. And that gave possession to an England side full of experience and pace and in no mood to hold back.

Scotland, by way of self-encouragement, actually made a good start, with two tries by Colin Shaw, but thereafter the England try-scoring machine cranked into action to score six touchdowns and win 36-10.

Happily, Scotland found some redemption in their final tie, with a 24-7 win over Russia, thanks to a hat-trick of tries by Turnbull and a fourth by Ally Hogg. That meant that Scotland finished third in their group and will face France in the quarter-finals of the Bowl today.

This article was originally posted on 23-May-2010, 06:32 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 23-May-2010, 06:34.