Safari Sevens Review – Scotland Sevens

Credit: Safari Sevens.

The return to competitive play marked a proud moment for all involved, both in Kenya and at home in Scotland, with Ciaran Beattie’s side picking up a win in their opening pool-play match, though tough results followed.

Proceedings in Kenya started with success, as Scotland overcame Uganda Select thanks to Daniel Kelly’s first-half try-scoring, Lewis Wells getting over the line and stellar defensive effort.

Kelly scored twice in the opening half, with Ritchie Mitchell converting one, giving Scotland a much-deserved initial lead. Their opponents did get back into the game, however, through errors from Wells and Kelly that saw them both sin-binned, but it was still advantage Scotland at the break.

An electric line break from Wells saw the second half immediately come to life. A recovering tackle initially brought him down, but he dove over the line to score just a few phases later.

Uganda scored late on to reduce the deficit, but Scotland finished the game out and claimed an opening day victory in Kenya.

Credit: Safari Sevens.

Saturday’s affairs were much tougher, though, starting with a 22-0 loss to eventual winners Kenya Shujaa.

In the final match of pool play, Scotland suffered a 38-17 defeat to SportPesa Forward Legends. Tries from Freddie Owsley, Kelly, and Struan White, with one Mitchell conversion, meant Scotland were only two points down at the break, but a dominant second-half performance from their opponents saw the game taken away from them.

When looking back at the tournament, Head Coach Beattie said: “We’ve learnt so much about the guys, and it’s been amazing to expose them all to something like this, because being in Kenya is completely different for them. Sevens-wise, we’ve got five guys who have made their senior sevens debut this weekend gone, four who have been involved just a few times, and our four senior figures who have World Sevens Series experience.

“It was amazing to step up and play international teams like Kenya, who are well-established in the World Series, and Uganda, as well as some really strong invitational teams who have experienced backgrounds.

“To expose the squad to teams like that and to play in a country like Kenya, with a hostile atmosphere and everything else surrounding the games, was a great and steep bit of learning.

“It would have been nice to learn to win in those situations. We beat Uganda on Day One, though, which was excellent and a really tough game. It was a really good performance to win against an international team.

“It’ll be really good to go again and build on this experience, having the squad back in the environment, and really seeing how they go because they’ll really benefit from that.

“Overall, we’re all extremely pleased to see Scotland Sevens back and playing again. It was a special moment to pull on the jersey and run out for that opening game. There’s a lot of pride for everyone here and at home to get to this stage, and we’re looking forward to growing the programme and exposing these players to more opportunities to stretch and further their development.”

Safari Sevens Pool Results

Friday 9 October

Uganda Select 14-17 Scotland

Saturday 10 October

Kenya Shujaa 22-0 Scotland
SportPesa Forward Legends 38-17 Scotland

Scotland Sevens squad at Safari Sevens:

Alex Bryden (Glasgow Warriors Academy)
Finn Callaghan (Unattached)
Daniel Kelly (Edinburgh Rugby Academy)
Ross McCann (Scotland Sevens) – Captain
Hamish MacArthur (Edinburgh Rugby Academy)
Ben McDonald (Edinburgh Rugby Academy)
Ritchie Mitchell (Edinburgh Accies)
Nairn Moncrieff (Edinburgh Rugby Academy)
Freddie Owsley (Scotland Sevens)
Ben Salmon (Scotland Sevens)
Murray Waugh (Glasgow National Talent Pathway 3)
Lewis Wells (Scotland Sevens)
Struan White (Glasgow Hutchesons’ Aloysians)