Mixed feelings as Scotland 7s end Bucharest campaign

Scotland 7s improved on day two in the FIRA-AER European Grand Prix Series in Bucharest, winning two of their three games against Spain (15-10) and Germany (36-12).However, they were unable to find victory against HSBC Sevens World Series opponents, Portugal, losing 19-12. The side ended in seventh place overall in the tournament.Scotland 7s captain, Scott Riddell, said: “We started well today against Spain, but then against Portugal we made too many basic errors. We came back in the second half but they had done enough to secure the win.”Our performance was much more positive against Germany. We executed our game plan well, something we had been guilty of not doing in some of our other games.”There are positives to take away from this weekend, we tried out some new things in attack and they worked out well.”We know that we’re in control of everything that went wrong this weekend, so we’ll go back get into training and start ironing out those mistakes ahead of the Gold Coast in three weeks time.”Gregor [Young], Jack [Ferguson] and Jo [Nayacavou] all stepped up and made good contributions, so I’m proud of them. But, overall we’re frustrated.”On the scoresheet today, with tries, were Scott Riddell (with two, one v Spain and one v Germany), Joseva Nayacavou (with one v Spain), Mark Robertson (with one v Spain), James Fleming (with three, one v Portugal and two v Germany), Andrew Turnbull (with two, one v Portugal and one v Germany), Struan Dewar (with one v Germany) and Chris Dean (with one v Germany).Jack Ferguson, James Johnstone, who kicked two goals, and Andrew Turnbull today added the conversions.Scotland 7s’ attention will now move to the opening round of the HSBC Sevens World Series on the Gold Coast on Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 October. They’ll play Samoa, Australia and Argentina in Group D.FIRA-AER European Grand Prix Series – BucharestDay oneScotland 41-7 UkraineTries: Chris Dean (2), Alex Glashan, Mark Robertson (2), Struan Dewar and Gregor YoungConversions: Alex Glashan (2) and Jack FergusonStarting team: Scott Riddell, Struan Dewar, Joseva Nayacavou, Andrew Turnbull, Alex Glashan, Chris Dean and James Johnstone.Subs: Mark Robertson (8mins), Gregor Young, Jack Ferguson (both 10mins), Chris Dean and James Fleming (both 12mins). Scotland 7-22 GermanyTry: Mark RobertsonConversion: Jack FergusonStarting team: Scott Riddell, Gregor Young, Michael Maltman, Alex Glashan, Jack Ferguson, Mark Robertson and James Fleming.Subs: Chris Dean (8mins), Struan Dewar (11mins), Andrew Turnbull (13mins), Joseva Nayacavou (13mins) and James Johnstone (not used). Scotland 12-19 FranceTries: James Johnstone and Andrew TurnbullConversion: Andrew TurnbullStarting team: Scott Riddell, Struan Dewar, Joeseva Nayacavou, Andrew Turnbull, Alex Glashan, Chris Dean and James Johnstone.Subs: Mark Robertson (13mins), Michael Maltman, Gregor Young, Jack Ferguson and James Fleming (all 14mins). Scotland 5-17 RussiaTry: Struan DewarStarting team: Scott Riddell, Gregor Young, Michael Maltman, Jack Ferguson, James Johnstone, Mark Robertson and James Fleming.Subs: Struan Dewar (6mins), Joseva Nayacavou (10mins), Andrew Turnbull, Alex Glashan and Chris Dean (not used).Day two Scotland 15-10 SpainTries: Scott Riddell, Joseva Nayacavou and Mark RobertsonStarting team: Scott Riddell, Joseva Nayacavou, Struan Dewar, Andrew Turnbull, Jack Ferguson, Chris Dean and James Johnstone.Subs: Mark Robertson (11mins), James Fleming (13mins), Gregor Young, Michael Maltman and Alex Glashan. Scotland 12-19 Portugal (Plate semi-final)Tries: James Fleming and Andrew TurnbullConversion: Jack FergusonStarting team: Scott Riddell, Gregor Young, Struan Dewar, Andrew Turnbull, Jack Ferguson, Chris Dean and James Johnstone.Subs: Mark Robertson, James Fleming (both 9mins), Joseva Nayacavou (13mins), Alex Glashan and Michael Maltman (not used). Scotland 36-12 Germany (7/8th play-off)Tries: Scott Riddell, James Fleming (2), Andrew Turnbull, Struan Dewar and Chris DeanConversions: James Johnstone (2) and Andrew TurnbullStarting team: Scott Riddell, Michael Maltman, Struan Dewar, Andrew Turnbull, James Johnstone, Mark Robertson and James Fleming.Subs: Jack Ferguson, Gregor Young, Chris Dean, Joseva Nayacavou (all 12 mins) and Alex Glashan (not used).