Riddell reaches record in South Africa
10 Dec 2017Scott Riddell became Scotland 7s most capped player in Cape Town competing in his 59th tournament.
The Scotland Captain surpassed Colin Gregor’s previous record on a frustrating weekend in South Africa that could have been so different were it not for injuries.
Down to just nine players from their 13-man squad, Scotland struggled on day two having just lost out on a place in the Cup the day before.
Day One
Scotland started the tournament on the back foot, slow out of the blocks against Argentina in their opening match with tries from Glenn Bryce and Jamie Farndale coming too late to snatch a victory.
Seven tries against Uganda, including two from debutant Sam Pecqueur, and a solid defensive performance gave the Scots a morale boosting 45-0 victory and hope of a place in the last eight going into the last pool game against England.
An opportunistic Glenn Bryce intercept gave Scotland a 7-0 lead over the English at half time however they were unable to hold out. Two second half tries for England saw them take the match 7-12 and consign Scotland to a place in the Challenge Trophy on day two.
Day Two
Only able to field three substitutes against Spain due to injuries, Scotland struggled. Harvey Elms scored with an impressive acrobatic effort in the corner but ultimately Spain’s fresh legs saw them through, 7-24.
Jamie Farndale and 13th man Ross McCann scored in Scotland’s next game against Kenya but again tired legs couldn’t carry them to victory and the Africans took the game 12-33.
Reaction
Scotland 7s Head Coach John Dalziel said: “Day one on the second weekend of the series is key and we blew a great chance with a slow start against Argentina and that’s what we’ll focus on going forward.
“We ended up in the wrong competition on day two with a broken squad. We lost Nick McLennan to an arm injury, Glenn Bryce to a leg wound and Jack Cuthbert to a Groin injury. Sam Pecqueur also picked up a rib injury so we were down to nine players from 13.
“The two weeks has been a huge learning curve for a new young squad and we will use the lessons of week 2 to shape our learning going forward.
“We have shown we can perform at this level but we continue to build to more consistent performances.
“Scott Riddell reached a huge milestone and we’re delighted for him. He is still a fantastic player and has been a great servant to Scotland 7s.”
