Scotland 7s surrendered a 14-point lead to Japan as they were dumped out of the Cathay Pacific / Credit Suisse Hong Kong 7s this morning (19-14).
The Scots took the lead after three minutes of play when Fraser Harkness crossed for the try and Andrew Skeen converted.
Two minutes later Skeen converted his own try after Scotland had dragged their opponenets wide and shot the ball back inside for Skeen tio break through the middle.
Despite the positive start the Scots began to stutter towards the end of the half, their errors compounded by a Shuetsu Narita try right on the buzzer.
Katsuyuki Sakai added the extras and japanese tails were up at the break.
HALF TIME: 7-14
The Scots often play a possession game in international sevens, dragging opponents this way and that to frustrate, tire and pick holes, however it was Japan who controlled more of the play in the second half and, after two minutes, were across the whitewash once more through Shuetsu Narita.
Scotland were handed a lifeline when Shuetsu Narita send his conversion wide, keeping the scores at 12-14 but with momentum on their side and the Scots struggling for attacking options in tha face of basic errors, Katsuyuki Sakai got a third for the Japanese which he then converted.
With a minute left on the clock, the Scots picked up the pace and the tempo but, as they made their last attack, the ball was fumbled after the hooter, the tie was over and Scotland were out.
FULL TIME: 19-14
Two days, sixteen nations, 44 matches – one great weekend! For a fifth season the IRB Sevens World Series comes to Murrayfield with the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s being the eighth and final leg of a super season of international sevens. Scotland put in a stellar performance at the last event, bringing home the Plate after defeating some of the big hitters on the sevens circuit – Fiji, USA, Wales, South Africa and Argentina.  Samoa were the overall winners in Edinburgh, taking home the Ned Haig Cup, as well as the main IRB Sevens World Series trophy.
Tickets for this fast and furious festival of rugby are on sale now and are priced from £5 for under-18s, £10 for students and senior citizens and £20 for adults. All tickets are ANY DAY tickets – valid for one day of your choice, either Saturday 28 May or Sunday 29 May.
2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series schedule
Dubai, UAE – 3-4 December 2010
George, South Africa – 10-11 December 2010
Wellington, New Zealand – 4-5 February 2011
Las Vegas, USA – 12-13 February 2011
Hong Kong – 25-27 March 2011
Adelaide, Australia – 2-3 April 2011
London, England – 21-22 May 2011



Scotland 7s were drawn against Japan in the quarter-final of the Hong Kong Sevens Bowl after missing out on a place in the Cup quarter-final on points difference.
The six pool winners of the Series’ only 24-team tournament have progressed to the Cup quarter-finals along with the top two second-placed performers, Russia nd Portugal.
Three first tries either side of the half from Ross Miller, Fraser Harkness, Tom Bury, Andrew Skeen and a brace from Michael Fedo were enough to ensure a comfortable 40-7 win over Mexico and, combined with yesterday’s 12-10 victory over Tonga, put the Scots in contention for the top tier competition with Series and Hong Kong Cup holders, Samoa, still to play.
As the matches raced on Pool favourites became apparent and various international management teams were scurrying around, calculating estimations and their predicted ramifications in a bid to clarify their chances of qualification as the competition rolled on.
A victory over Samoa would have guaranteed Scotland a place in the Cup quarter-final while a loss would line the Scots up along side the other five second-placed teams competing for the remaining two Cup quarter-final slots.
With matches earlier in the day, Russia all but snapped up one of the two available places with good wins over Malaysia (50-0) and Kenya (5-22) and an unhelpfully narrow loss to Fiji (29-14).
The Russian results left Scotland, Wales and Portugal watching each others’ games with vested interest.
First up were the Welsh, who many considered to be the most likely to snatch the second available slot, however a big loss to South Africa (42-12) hit their points difference hard and, while they were not entirely out of reckoning, it was by all intents and purposes, a two horse race between Scotland and Portugal.
In a similar fashion to Russia, the margin of Portugal’s loss to eventual Pool winners New Zealand was less than estimated (19-12) which meant Scotland were left to take on Samoa knowing that they had to stay within eight points to make the Cup quarters.
However the Hong Kong holders ran in five tries to Scotland’s two (Fedo and Skeen registering Scotland’s efforts), meaning that Scotland fell just 10 points short of Portugal’s points’ tally and went through to the Bowl where they will face Japan in match one of day three, with the winner taking on Scotland’s beaten Pool opponents, Tonga, or the USA.
While missing out on the Cup is frustrating in itself, the Scots will go to bed tonight knowing that an opportunity to bag eight Series points after just three games was missed, while they now face a tough Bowl competition where only the victors are rewarded (with five Series points).
Such a feat will require three fine wins on the bounce though importantly Scotland have been here four times already this season and have picked up the silverwear on two of those occasions, in legs two and four of the HSBC Sevens World Series – South Africa and Las Vegas.
Time will tell if that feat is to be repeated on day three of the Cathay Pacific / Credit Suisse Hong Kong 7s…

This article was originally posted on 26-Mar-2011, 23:11 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 27-Mar-2011, 10:22.