Scotland Chip Away At Opposition At Rugby Rocks
28 May 2012
Scotland Select continued their preparations for the FIRA-AER tournament in Ghent next month at Rugby Rocks on Saturday, reaching the Cup semi final. Only losing their last game, against Ireland, the Scots also recorded a 46-0 win over Norway, one of their pool opponents at the forthcoming Belgian event.Head coach Scott Forrest said: “Overall it was a good day. The girls did well again and with a couple of changes in the line-up, it gave me the chance to look at more players in that sevens environment.Photo: Sarah Dixon on her way to one of her four tries (credit: Rachel Law)Scotland Select continued their preparations for the FIRA-AER tournament in Ghent next month at Rugby Rocks on Saturday, reaching the Cup semi final. Only losing in their last game, against Ireland, the Scots also recorded a 46-0 win over Norway, one of their pool opponents in the forthcoming Belgian event.Head coach Scott Forrest said: “Overall it was a good day. The girls did well again and with a couple of changes in the line-up, it gave me the chance to look at more players in that sevens environment.The first of their three pool games was against an England side, playing as the Injured Players Foundation. A 19-19 final score saw two tries from Sarah Dixon, one from Megan Gaffney and the extras added by Lisa Martin.After being down at half time, when the opposition scored after turnover from Scotland’s set piece, the Scots scored two good tries in the second half. Then at 19-12, the last play of the game, Scotland were turned over and the English ran the length of the pitch to score.Forrest says: “We should have won the first game – we scored then kind of switched off a bit. We’re a good team when we’ve got the ball and lessons were learnt in that game.”Next up was Norway, in Scotland’s pool at the FIRA-AER tournament, where Scotland picked up their work rate off the ball and increased in depth and pace to score nine tries (scorers below). A third win, 35-5, over RAF Pumas, followed though there had been opportunity to increase that lead.Coming in the top two in their pool, a Cup semi final against Ireland was next. After being 5-apiece going into the last few minutes after a Gaffney try (a certain five-pointer from Dixon was negated when the referee accidentally ran into her en route to the line), the Irish rallied to make the final score 22-5.Forrest adds: “The big things Ireland do well are the basics and play very well off the turnover. It was a harsh lesson, that last game, but we’re looking towards Belgium to get things right.”I’m very pleased with where the team is just now. We have an initial squad of 15 and 14 of those have now played. We have training next weekend and time to fine tune a couple of things.”I’ve been very impressed with how well the girls have handled it all, switching to the sevens game and working on the ability to refocus after maybe not doing so well in a game. The team want to win, I want them to win and we all want to perform really well too.”The squad now proceed – as Scotland Women 7s – to the FIRA-AER WRWC qualifier first round tournament in Ghent, Belgium on 9 and 10 June. After a switch around within groups this weekend, Scotland have now been pooled with Georgia, Malta, Norway and Finland and must come first or second in their group to meet first or second from the group comprising Ireland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Poland and Israel. They must then finish first or second in that re-group to proceed to the WRWC 2013 qualifier final in Moscow on 30 June and 1 July. The 2013 Women’s Rugby World Cup Sevens features the top 16 women’s teams, takes place at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow from 28 to 30 June. Five teams – South Africa, USA, Russia, Australia and New Zealand – have qualified directly, with Australia the current title holders.Scotland Select results at Rugby Rocks (26 May)Scotland 5-22 Ireland (try Gaffney)Scotland 35-5 RAF Pumas (tries Gaffney, Johnston, Harris (2), Dixon – kicks Martin)Scotland 46-0 Norway (tries Steven, Slaven, Martin (2), Johnston, Dixon, Harris (3) – kicks Martin)Scotland 19-19 Injured Players Foundation (tries Dixon (2), Gaffney – kicks Martin)The Scotland Select team at Rugby Rocks:1. Susie Brown (Richmond)?2. Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)?3. Laura Steven (Murrayfield Wanderers)?4. Louise Dalgliesh (RHC Cougars)?5. Megan Gaffney (Murrayfield Wanderers)?6. Lisa Martin (Murrayfield Wanderers)?7. Sarah Dixon (Stirling County)?8. Tess Forsberg (Richmond)?9. Annabel Sergeant (Murrayfield Wanderers)?10. Stephanie Johnston (RHC Cougars)?11. Lauren Harris (Melrose)?12. Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers)
