Scotland 7S Take Heart From Elche Challenge

The Scotland 7s squad have managed to finish their day off in Elche, Spain with a win over Portugal (33-26), who had defeated England earlier in the day, in the northern hemisphere invitational tournament. The team were defeated in their opening three games against England (14-24), Wales (19-27) and France (17-24), but touched down six times in their final clash to go home with a win ahead of the HSBC Sevens World Series, which starts in just over three weeks on the Gold Coast, Australia. Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, said: “I’m glad we were able to finish the day off with something positive.  “We played a lot better in the last game and were more clinical in our game plan. “I believe we competed well today but we are still a little behind some of the other teams we were up against.   “All in all it has been a worthwhile exercise. We have had the chance to play against good opposition and it has been a good opportunity for our young players to play at a high level before the series starts.” In the opening game Michael Fedo (Northumbria University) and Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh Rugby) crossed the whitewash to tally up 14 points for the Scots. Fedo crossed again against Wales and on this occasion was joined on the try sheet by Sean Kennedy (Glasgow Warriors) and Ross Miller (Glasgow Hawks). During the second half of the day Andrew Turnbull once again showed his finishing flair, touching down twice against France and twice against Portugal. He was joined in the first of the latter two games by James Fleming (Edinburgh Rugby). In the finale Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Kennedy and Kerr Gossman (Edinburgh Rugby) claimed a try for the Scots.