One Last Lifeline For Scotland 7S
21 Jul 2012
Scotland have one last lifeline to book their place in the Rugby World Cup 7s in Moscow next year. They must defeat Germany in the semi-final of the plate, then either Ukraine or Italy in the plate final of the Algarve sevens in Portugal tonight.The “straight-forward” qualification route, a Cup quarter-final win, proved beyond the Scots as they lost 14-26 to France. Georgia, Portugal, France and Spain all secured their place in Moscow and will fight out the Cup semi-finals in the Algarve.Scotland, without the injured Jim Thompson, opted for a starting line-up of Michael Fedo, Fraser Brown, Colin Shaw, Colin Gregor, Andrew Turnbull, Struan Dewar and Byron McGuigan.Early possession did not yield any opening and from the moment that France were awarded a penalty they dominated territory.A yellow card against Thibault Zambelli saw a French try ruled out and while the French were short-handed Fedo crossed for Scotland’s opening try, converted by Gregor. However, the French scored in first-half injury time for a 12-7 advantage and they never looked like surrendering it, extending their lead to 26-7 before James Fleming showed his blistering pace for a late try, Gregor again converting.The Plate semi-final against Germany kicks-off at 7.56pm.
