Scotland battled well but ultimately the plate final was a game too far for them at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, going down to Samoa without scoring a point to finish sixth overall. Earlier in the second day they had run South Africa very close in the quarter final and an earlier inside pass from John Houston after a great break in the dying moments could have seen them through to (at the very least) the Bronze medal match. The plate semi against Kenya went to extra time, and that probably left them a bit too tired to truly stand up to a Samoa side shamed by their lazy performances earlier in the tournament that shook up the knockout stages.
Still, having won all their pool games save for a gubbing at the hands of New Zealand, running South Africa close then beating Kenya it can be classed as another reasonably successful, but largely unrewarding sevens tournament for Stephen Gemmell’s last one in charge.
DAY ONE:
Scotland 26-0 Guyana
Scotland 19-17 Canada
New Zealand 46 v 0 Scotland
DAY TWO:
Cup Quarter-final – South Africa 10-7 Scotland
Plate semi-final – Scotland 22 Kenya 17
Plate Final – Samoa 34-0 Scotland
Scotland Final Position: 6th
In other news:
Martyn Williams has been cited for dropping a knee on to Mossy during the Cardiff vs Edinburgh game at the weekend. Maybe they could undo Mossy’s ridiculous yellow card while they are at it. Edinburgh came away with a losing bonus point but could have won it with some great attacking in the first half. They shouldn’t have been anywhere near winning really by the end, but Parks was having one of those days…
Glasgow got a win over bogey team the Dragons, and denied them a bonus point which saw them top their group.
So not a terrible start in Europe then. Big games up this weekend against Wasps (away) and Northampton (Murrayfield), more of that later…
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Highlights (in Welsh) available here:
http://www.s4c.co.uk/clic/e_level2.shtml?programme_id=416108723 (expires in 4 days!)
Of note:
09:00 – Martin Williams practising his kneeling, on Chris Paterson’s face.
21:00 – One of the best tries you’ll see this year
42:20 – Glasgow v Dragons highlights