Monday, 11 October 2010

Scotland 7s head coach Stephen Gemmell has challenged his players to repeat the heroics shown at Murrayfield in May when they run out against South Africa in the Commonwealth Games cup quarter-final in Delhi tomorrow (7.14am BST).
The Scots had already qualified for the competition’s top tier knock-out phase, having beaten Guyana and Canada, however their heavy loss to New Zealand (46-0) means they face the top qualifier from pool B, South Africa, in the next round.
Scotland 7s head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “We gave away the early score and our heads went down. The secret in 7s is to maintain possession and we struggled with that.
“We play South Africa tomorrow and we will have to be able to have patience to play our game. We rarely had more than one phase of play against New Zealand and when we did we nearly scored but continually gave away possession and were punished for it.”
The Kiwis scored eight tries during the convincing win but, despite the loss, Stephen Gemmell remained upbeat about his side’s progress and their chances of repeating Scotland’s 19-14 victory over the South Africans in May.
He said: “We’re one big performance away from the semi-final. It will take a massive effort but we’re confident we’ve got that performance in us.
“We’ve always had close games with South Africa where the margins have been very tight. Our game can give them problems and we need to draw on previous performances and go in there with belief.
“We have 14 minutes to make that little bit of history. We have to give it everything.”
Scotland 7s 12-man squad
Mike Adamson, Alex Blair, Scott Forrest, Chris Fusaro, John Houston, Lee Jones, Stuart McInally, Scott Newlands, Hefin O'Hare, Colin Shaw, Andrew Turnbull, Scott Riddell
COMMONWEALTH GAMES, RUGBY SEVENS, DAY TWO, Tuesday 12 October (BST)
6.08am (match 29) - Cup Quarter-final – New Zealand v Wales
6.30am (match 30) - Cup Quarter-final – England v Samoa
6.52am (match 31) - Cup Quarter-final – Kenya v Australia
7.14am (match 32) - Cup Quarter-final – South Africa v Scotland
9.14am (match 35) - Plate Semi-final – Loser Match 29 v Loser Match 30
9.36am (match 36) - Plate Semi-final – Loser Match 31 v Loser Match 32
9.58am (match 37) - Cup Semi-final – Winner Match 29 v Winner Match 30
10.20am (match 38) - Cup Semi-final – Winner Match 31 v Winner Match 32
11.20am (match 40) - Plate Final – Winner Match 35 v Winner Match 36
11.50am (match 41) - Bronze Medal Match – Loser Match 37 v Loser Match 38
12.15pm (match 42) - Gold Medal Match (Cup final) – Winner Match 37 v Winner Match 38
12.55pm - Medal Ceremony
 
Rugby Sevens is one of ten core sports at the Commonwealth Games and made its debut in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, but Manchester in 2002 was the first occasion Scotland competed. Now an approved Olympic Sport, included in the 2016 Games, sevens takes on an even greater significance as part of the Commonwealth Games.

This article was originally posted on 11-Oct-2010, 18:13 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 11-Oct-2010, 18:14.