Scotland Alive And Kicking From Group Of Death

Argentina 7s 17, Scotland 7s 17 Scotland 7s reached their sixth Cup quarter-final of the eight leg IRB Sevens World Series today after drawing level with Argentina in a game full of controversy. The evenly matched pool B decider saw three Argentineans sent off – one permanently – as the Pumas battled on with four men for almost a minute.Argentina 7s 17, Scotland 7s 17 Scotland 7s reached their sixth Cup quarter-final of the eight leg IRB Sevens World Series today after drawing level with Argentina in a game full of controversy. The evenly matched pool B decider saw three Argentineans sent off – one permanently – as the Pumas battled on with four men for almost a minute. Scotland were first on the scoreboard through ranging forward Richie Vernon. The fans’ favourite 12 was put into space just inside his own 22 before galloping in to the delight of the home crowd. Colin Gregor missed the conversion. Having knocked South Africa out of the quarter-final last weekend, Argentina were destined to pose a major threat – a threat they soon backed up with continued pressure deep in the Scotland 22. Santiago Piccaluga managed to sneak a score at the side of the breakdown, touching down with his arm outstretched. The missed Argentinean kick meant that Scotland went in ahead at the break. The second half was probably the most eventful seven minutes of the day as Francisco Diaz Bonilla crossed the line before two of his team-mates, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino and Pablo Gomez Cora, were sent to the sin bin for two minutes each. Greig Laidlaw took full advantage of the mismatch in numbers to touch down to take the score to 12-10. Welsh referee James Jones then continued to make headlines as he sent off Tomas Passerotti resulting in Argentina only having four players on the field. Despite the controversy, it was the right decision as Passerotti had head butted Scotland’s Chris Fusaro. It was then down to Vernon to claim his hat-trick before Gomez Cora crossed the line to bring the Pumas back to within two points. Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, one of the yellow carded Argentine’s was to have the last word as he slotted the conversion to level the scores. Scotland will now face New Zealand in the Cup quarter-finals on Sunday at 11:43am. Argentina 7s: Francisco Diaz Bonilla, Santiago Piccaluga, Ramiro del Busto, Lucas Gonzalez Amorosino, Pablo Gomez Cora, Agustin Gosio, Tomas Passerotti Scotland 7s: Scott Forrest, Colin Shaw, Jim Thompson, Colin Gregor, Greig Laidlaw, Andrew Turnbull, Richie Vernon