Scotland Bowl Out Russians To Lift South Africa 7S Silverware

Scotland 7s lifted their first piece of silverware of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series with a convincing 26-0 win over Russia in the Bowl final of the Emirates Airline South Africa 7s. After putting in some impressive displays in the Dubai 7s tournament the weekend prior, the Scots arrived in South Africa determined to back-up and build on those performances in the second leg of the global series. Scotland 7s lifted their first piece of silverware of the 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series with a convincing 26-0 win over Russia in the Bowl final of the Emirates Airline South Africa 7s. After putting in some impressive displays in the Dubai 7s tournament the weekend prior, the Scots arrived in South Africa determined to back-up and build on those performances in the second leg of the global series. Scotland got their day-one campaign off to a good start with a win over France (21-12) but were ultimately undone in two winnable encounters with Dubai 7s Plate semi-finalists Wales (19-7) and finalists Australia (21-7), to finish third in the pool. While improvements made by the young side were evident once more, the overriding feeling in the camp was one of disappointment at not getting a second day-one win – that disappointment turned into day-two determination as the Scots took on the Bowl. The three successive wins to take the title kicked off on song when a 14-5 win over Namibia booked Scotland’s place in a semi-final with Portugal. In the close game the sides matched one another try-for-try but Andrew Skeen’s impressive kicking rate, sending over two from two, was the difference (14-10) as Scotland went through to the final with last weekend’s Dubai 7s pool opponents, Russia. Scotland went into the game with confidence having won the Dubai 7s pool match 26-10 but Russia’s impressive 34-0 semi-final win over France underlined their threat. Scotland got off to a great start with their first of four unanswered tries coming from Andrew Skeen, who converted his own score after two minutes. Skeen then continued his excellent kicking record by adding the extras to a Dougie Fife try with the last touch of the half to put the Scots 14-0 up at the break. Scotland returned to the field on song and, after three minutes, Scott Riddell crossed for an unconverted score to put further distance between the sides. West of Scotland’s Graham Fisken follwed suit with Scotland’s fourth and final try of the match. Skeen slotted the kick in the sixth minute to end the scoring to see Scotland secure the silverware and four series points. Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, said: “The boys felt like they could and should have got more out of the pool matches on day one, having pushed Wales and Australia very close. The players took a lot out of those matches but it was important that we continued our form into the Bowl. “The game we struggled with most all weekend was Namibia. We really made life hard for ourselves and, while we believed we could win it, we had to dig deep to get the game under our belts. “After that we really got into our stride. We played very well against Portugal, which you have to because they are a very good team, but against Russia we controlled they game from start to finish. The boys didn’t give anything away and showed real tenacity. “This group has raised the bar every time they’ve had the chance. It’s been a fantastic experience to work with this group who have pushed themselves very hard, created real unity in the group and pulled it all together. “They really have been exceptional and have met every challenge head on.” After the opening two tournaments, the eight-event HSBC Sevens World Series will break until February before taking its unique brand of entertainment to New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland, climaxing at Murrayfield on 28-29 May 2011. Scotland 7s  Squad:David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby/Hawick), Struan Dewar (Edinburgh Rugby elite development/Heriot’s), Michael Fedo (Team Northumbria), Dougie Fife (Currie), Graham Fisken (West of Scotland), James Fleming (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), Fraser Harkness (Selkirk), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), James Johnstone (Glasgow Warriors elite development/Currie), Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Ross Samson (Edinburgh Rugby/Boroughmuir), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians) 2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series scheduleDubai, UAE – 3-4 December 2010George, South Africa – 10-11 December 2010Wellington, New Zealand – 4-5 February 2011Las Vegas, USA – 12-13 February 2011Hong Kong – 25-27 March 2011Adelaide, Australia – 2-3 April 2011London, England – 21-22 May 2011Edinburgh, Scotland – 28-29 May 2011