Scotland 7s guaranteed their place in the cup quarter-final of the Commonwealth Games for the first time in Delhi today.
Back to back wins over Guyana (26-0) and Canada (19-17) mean that Scotland are through to the top tier’s knock-out stage with New Zealand still to play to determine the pool winner and the opponent in the next round.
Head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “We’ve achieved what we set out to do. All our preparation has been geared towards winning these two games and getting that quarter-final place.
“There are three medals up for grabs and Scotland is one of only eight teams that can win one.”
Scotland ran in four tries to beat Guyana 26-0 in their opening game where an aggressive Guyanan defence made it difficult for the Scots to establish a controlled platform to attack – a late score from Lee Jones was all that separated the sides at the break.
However a more composed Scottish outfit took to the field after the break and ran in three further tries – one from captain Scott Forest and two fine efforts from Jones to complete his hat-trick.
Scotland then secured their place in the medal race with their win over Canada.
After enduring an early scare Scotland ran in two first-half tries (both from Jones) to Canada’s one.
A fine second-half try from Andrew Turnbull put some breathing space between the sides but two late scores from the Canadians ensured a tense end to the match.
Gemmell added: “We started well and took our opportunities to score a couple of tries but we couldn’t keep them down and let them back in at the end.”
Looking ahead to New Zealand he added: “We will field a strong team again as we need to expose our top players to tier one teams. They’ll be playing them tomorrow so we need to test our game plan, but it’s certainly nice to be in a position where we know we’re in the top eight and are one win away [in the knock-out stage] from a medal opportunity.”
FOR FULLMATCH REPORTS ON EACH MATCH GO TO WWW.SCOTTISHRUGBY.ORG
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 POOLS (ALL TIMES ARE LOCAL)
Pool A: Canada, Guyana, New Zealand, Scotland
Pool B: India, South Africa, Tonga, Wales
Pool C: Kenya, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Samoa
Pool D: Australia, England, Sri Lanka, Uganda
DAY ONE: Monday 11 October
10.06am – Scotland v Guyana
1.12pm – Scotland v Canada
5.32pm – New Zealand v Scotland
DAY TWO: Tuesday 12 October
9am (match 25) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool A v 4th Pool B
9:22am (match 26) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool D v 4th Pool C
9.44am (match 27) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool C v 4th Pool D
10.06am (match 28) – Bowl Quarter-final – 3rd Pool B v 4th Pool A
10.38am (match 29) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool A v 2nd Pool B
11am (match 30) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool D v 2nd Pool C
11.22am (match 31) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool C v 2nd Pool D
11.44am (match 32) – Cup Quarter-final – 1st Pool B v 2nd Pool A
1pm (match 33) – Bowl Semi-final – Winner Match 25 v Winner Match 26
1.22pm (match 34) – Bowl Semi-final – Winner Match 27 v Winner Match 28
1.44pm (match 35) – Plate Semi-final – Loser Match 29 v Loser Match 30
2.06pm (match 36) – Plate Semi-final – Loser Match 31 v Loser Match 32
2.28pm (match 37) – Cup Semi-final – Winner Match 29 v Winner Match 30
2.50pm (match 38) – Cup Semi-final – Winner Match 31 v Winner Match 32
3.22pm (match 39) – Bowl Final – Winner Match 33 v Winner Match 34
3.50pm (match 40) – Plate Final – Winner Match 35 v Winner Match 36
4.20pm (match 41) – Bronze Medal Match – Loser Match 37 v Loser Match 38
4.45pm (match 42) – Gold Medal Match (Cup final) – Winner Match 37 v Winner Match 38
5.25pm – 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.