Hong Kong 7s: day two round-up

Scotland finished third in Pool B, following defeats from England and South Africa, following a victory over Russia on the opening day of the event.Calum MacRae’s men will face Portugal in the Bowl quarter-final on day three. Scotland lifted the Bowl in Hong Kong last year, following defeats of Japan, Wales and France in the knock-out stages.Scotland fell to a 0-19 defeat at the hands of England to open day two of their campaign, and bring to an end the dark blue’s run of victories over England, who they have beaten on the last three occasions in the World Series.Nick McLennan came closest for Scotland, yet, following a referral to the big screen, the referee deemed he was in touch on approach to the line.England’s tries came through Richard de Carpentier and Dan Norton, who crossed on two occasions.Next up, an extremely strong South African outfit, who managed to rack up 31 points to Scotland’s 0.The first-half was a tight affair, before Scotland were reduced to six men as Nick McLennan was shown a yellow-card for a neck-roll.South Africa used this as a springboard as Nel grabbed a brace before the hooter, both of which were converted by Geduld.A further three tries from Senatla, Soyizwapi and Dippenaar secured South Africa the Cup qualification spot, and meant Scotland would be tiered into the Bowl competition.Head Coach MacRae said: “Against England we created four  clear cut opportunities to score and drew a blank. We need to reward our attacking efforts with points, not near misses.”I thought we managed elements of the first half against South Africa well, however we had chances to spread the ball wide after penetrating the defence and didn’t move ball to the space effectively. “Going down to 6 men in both ties took its toll and our accuracy and discipline needs improved.”Portugal tomorrow morning will be our first opportunity to put right the frustrations of today.”