Challenging Day Two For Scotland 7S

Scotland 7s had a challenging second day in Moscow today, losing all three of their games against France (7-12), Ukraine (14-19) and Wales (21-35). The defeats see them drop from sixth to eighth in the European rankings and will ultimately make the task in Odense in Denmark in a week’s time even more difficult. On a positive note however Ayr’s Craig Gossman continued to show his attacking threat adding two more tries to his hat-trick from day one. Shiel said: “Today has been disappointing overall. Every game was important but despite getting ourselves into a good position against Ukraine we let them back in and the loss was our own undoing. “This group’s work rate has been exceptional over the weekend. They have struggled with the heat and the intensity of the international game and that really showed against Wales in the last game. However, they have justified their opportunity to be involved with Scotland 7s, but also realise that to play at this level they need to be fitter. “We’re now looking forward to the World Cup qualifier [in Portugal in July] so for the final leg, next weekend in Denmark, we are going to bring in our professional players and get them playing rugby again.”  The Scots started the day with a low scoring match against France. They performed well but France just edged them by one try. The sole try scorer in this match was Gossman and his efforts were complemented by a conversion from captain Andrew Skeen. Despite the loss there was still a chance for the Scots to win silverware and they met Ukraine in the Plate semi-final. All looked well when they managed to gain a 14-0 advantage, with Ross Miller and Darren Gillespie touching down and Skeen converting both scores. But they let the lead slip in the second half and Ukraine stormed past them with three well-worked tries. This saw them move into a seventh place play-off with Wales, who simply proved to be too much for the young Scots. On the score sheet in this match were Anderson, Gossman and Skeen with one try each, all converted by Skeen.