Positives and negatives for Scotland 7s in Lyon

Tomorrow morning, in Lyon, as part of the FIRA-AER Grand Prix Sevens Series, Scotland 7s will play Russia in the Cup quarter-finals (Sunday 8 June: 10.06am (UK time)). Today, the Scots began with two impressive victories over Wales (29-10) and England (33-14), but were defeated by group winning side, Belgium.  With Belgium winning all three of their day one fixtures, Scotland ended the day in second place.Head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “Credit to Belgium winning all three of their games.  The way we played against them was unacceptable. We did really well to beat Wales and England.  We functioned as a team and reaped the rewards.  We have shown when Scotland 7s play together they win.”However, against Belgium we played as though our job was done.  The players began playing as individuals, missing one-on-one tackles and lacking composure and discipline.  We know that when each player plays alone we get punished.”There were debuts for Boroughmuir’s Alex Cox and Melrose’s Richard Mill, the latter of whom touched down against the auld enemy for his first international short game try.Gemmell continued: “We wanted every player to get some game time today, so we used all our replacements in every game.  Alex and Richard came on off the bench in each tie and did well on their first Scotland 7s outings.”Scotland 7s will compete in the top tiered Cup competition tomorrow, but will be required to lift their game significantly if they are to progress.Gemmell concluded: “Fortunately we have qualified for the Cup competition, but we cannot play the way we did at the end of today if we are to advance at this level. Improvements are required and tomorrow we must come out and play as a unit.”Elsewhere, Scotland 7s’ development team, the Scottish Thistles had their second consecutive third place finish in the GB7s Series.  The side recorded three victories from five in the Colwyn Bay 7s, in the north of Wales.Their results were 22-12 v England IPF, 19-7 v Apache and a 31-19 defeat to the British Army in the group stages.  In the knock-out round they lost to Samurai, 24-17 before beating the British Army, 34-10 in the third placed play-off.Lyon 7s day one Scotland 29-10 WalesTries: Andrew Turnbull, James Johnstone, Struan Dewar, Gregor Young and James FlemingConversions: Colin Gregor (2)Starting team: Colin Shaw, Struan Dewar, Mark Robertson, Colin Gregor, Scott Wight, James Johnstone and Andrew Turnbull.Replacements: Alex Cox, Nyle Godsmark, Gregor Young, James Fleming and Richard Mill (all used).Scotland 33-10 EnglandTries: Struan Dewar, Andrew Turnbull, Colin Shaw, James Fleming, Richard MillConversions: Colin Gregor (4)Starting team: Colin Shaw, Struan Dewar, Mark Robertson, Colin Gregor, Scott Wight, James Johnstone and Andrew Turnbull.Replacements: Alex Cox, Gregor Young, James Fleming Richard Mill (all used) and Nyle Godsmark (not used). Scotland 12-26 BelgiumTries: James Johnstone and James FlemingConversion: Colin GregorStarting team: Colin Shaw, Struan Dewar, Mark Robertson, Colin Gregor, Scott Wight, James Johnstone and Andrew Turnbull.Replacements: Alex Cox, Gregor Young, James Fleming Richard Mill (all used) and Nyle Godsmark (not used).