Scotland 7s finish runners-up at sevens event in London

Scotland 7s warmed up for Glasgow 2014 by reaching the final of a one day sevens event in London today. A squad of 13 took part in the Sevens and the City tournament at Allianz Park, the home of Aviva Premiership side Saracens and narrowly lost 12-10 to England in the final. It was Scotland’s final tournament before they compete at the Commonwealth Games at Ibrox on 26 and 27 July as part of Team Scotland and Stuart Hogg made his first appearance in a Scotland 7s jersey in the opening game against Germany. Stephen Gemmell’s side were 14-10 up at the break against the Germans, through tries by Scott Riddell and Richie Vernon, which were both converted by Scott Wight. In the second-half Germany scored early to lead 15-14, but the Scots went on to win the game comfortably thanks to tries by Roddy Grant, Lee Jones and a second touchdown by Vernon. Wight kicked three successful conversions to give Scotland a 35-15 win. In Scotland’s second pool match they suffered a disappointing defeat to a talented Wailers side. Richie Vernon opened the scoring for Scotland and Scott Wight converted, but the Wailers hit back with two tries of their own and Scotland were 12-7 down at the break. Mark Bennett scored to level the game early in the second-half, but the Wailers scored two converted tries to move ahead 26-12. Wight managed a late consolation try but the Wailers won 26-17. In their final pool match Scotland comprehensively beat Wales 49-7 to secure a place in the final against England. Scott Riddell, Mark Bennett and Lee Jones scored first-half tries, with Wight converting them all to put the Scots in the driving seat at the break. Scotland continued where they left off in the second-half with Lee Jones once again using his blistering pace to score three more tries. Struan Dewar also got on the scoresheet, with Wight and Hogg kicking second-half conversions, to give Scotland a morale-boosting win ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later this month. In the final Scotland were 7-0 down at the break but Lee Jones and Mark Bennett scored unconverted tries to move them into a 10-7 lead.However, there was to be late heartbreak for Scotland as England managed to score a try with just over a minute remaining to win the final 12-10.Head coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: We can take lot of positives from today and we’re in a better place now than we were this morning. It gives us something to build on for the next couple of weeks ahead of the Commonwealth Games.We trained well in Stirling last week but there is no substitute for playing games and to get four aginst tough opposition and two against Commonwealth Games squads was very worthwhile.Credit to Sean (Lamont) and Stuart (Hogg), they’ve both come in and contributed well to the group throughout the week. It’s been a long time since Sean’s played sevens and Stuart has never played sevens before, so they’ve now both got some real experience which they can use over the next couple of weeks going into Glasgow 2014.Sevens and the City Scotland 35-15 GermanyTries: Scott Riddell, Richie Vernon (2), Roddy Grant and Lee JonesConversions: Scott Wight (5)Starting team: Richie Vernon, Scott Riddell, James Eddie, Lee Jones, Scott Wight, Stuart Hogg, James JohnstoneReplacements: Mark Bennett, Struan Dewar, Sean Lamont, Mark Robertson, Roddy Grant and Colin Shaw (all used). Scotland 17-26 WailersTries: Richie Vernon, Mark Bennett and Scott WightConversions: Scott Wight (1)Starting team: Richie Vernon, Roddy Grant, Colin Shaw, Lee Jones, Scott Wight, Mark Bennett, Sean LamontReplacements: James Eddie, Roddy Grant, Stuart Hogg, James Johnstone, Scott Riddell and Mark Robertson (all used). Scotland 49-7 WalesTries: Scott Riddell, Mark Bennett, Lee Jones (4), Struan DewarConversions: Scott Wight (5) and Stuart Hogg (2)Starting team: Richie Vernon, Scott Riddell, Sean Lamont, Stuart Hogg, Scott Wight, Mark Bennett, Lee JonesReplacements: Struan Dewar, James Eddie, Roddy Grant, James Johnstone, Mark Robertson and Colin Shaw (all used). Scotland 10-12 EnglandTries: Lee Jones and Mark BennettStarting team: Sean Lamont, Scott Riddell, Struan Dewar, Stuart Hogg, Scott Wight, Mark Bennett and Lee JonesReplacements: James Eddie, Roddy Grant, James Johnstone, Mark Robertson, Colin Shaw (all used) and Richie Vernon (not used / rested).