THE SCOTSMAN REPORTS

Scotland, meanwhile, fielding their strongest squad this season, experienced a disappointing tournament, ending with defeat to Portugal in the semi-final of the bowl.

Against the weaker sides, Scotland showed up well but in the pressure situations and without the attacking craft of Colin Gregor, the Scots lacked a cutting edge in midfield.

On the positive side Lee Jones and Alex Blair, though used sparingly, showed enough strong points to suggest they might be used in Edinburgh. The other players to impress were Roddy Grant, whose workrate set the bench mark for the squad and the powerful midfielder John Houston, who caused problems for defences.

Coach Stephen Gemmell now has less than a week to make vital improvements to his squad's game, but while he disappointed by the outcome in London he is encouraged by aspects of his side's play.

"When we had the ball we showed we can be creative and I would hope that the experience of playing in London will have given the squad a better understanding of what's required," said Gemmell.

"We have to work on a number of areas like restarts and one-on-one tackles.

"Much of our weakness in defence was about not getting into the right position. It's very much about speed of reaction.

"But the players now know what is expected and the training will be more intense this week."

Scotland began their second-day campaign with a quarter-final bowl tie against France, who on Saturday had run South Africa and Fiji close in the group stages.

The Scots, however, have a good record against France and moreover had something to prove after a disappointing display on Saturday.

That happy record continued as Ally Hogg, Andrew Turnbull and Mark Robertson ran in tries, two converted by Mike Adamson and one by Blair for a 21-12 win.

That put Scotland into the semi-final and a difficult tie with a Portugal side that contained experience, pace and a propensity to upset the more established nations.

True to form, they did just that despite a promising opening by Scotland with a try by Roddy Grant after Ally Hogg had opened up the defence.

Adamson converted but Scotland's lead was short lived as experienced campaigner Pedro Leal outpaced Mark Robertson and then Antonio de Aguilar punished some slack tackling for his side's second score.

After the break Portugal extended their lead with a converted try from David Mateus.

Andrew Turnbull providing much needed pace then showed his stepping skills with a wonderful solo try that brought Scotland back into contention only for Mateus to kill off Scottish hopes with his second try, again the result of missed tackles.

Just on full time Scotland scored a consolation try by replacement Lee Jones to make it a better scoreline but not a more profitable outcome.

Scotland 7s squad: Scott Forrest (capt), Mike Adamson, Alex Blair (all Edinburgh Accies), Chris Fusaro (Heriot's), Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Lee Jones (Selkirk), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Colin Shaw, Andrew Turnbull (both Edinburgh)

This article was originally posted on 24-May-2010, 08:21 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 24-May-2010, 19:49.