Scotland Crowned London 7S Bowl Champions

Scotland will head north to the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s as London Bowl champions after their post-hooter final victory over Kenya (21-19). Scotland needed a big second-half performance after they’d got their noses in front in the first thanks to a converted Tom Brown try. A lightening quick try from Scotland’s Lee Jones in the second period temporarily extended that lead but a Kenyan double snatched back the advantage going into, and through, regulation time. Bowl quarter-finalPortugal 26-0 Scotland Bowl semi-finalScotland 19-17 Spain Bowl final:Scotland 21-19 Kenya Game three: Scotland 21-19 Kenya Scotland will head north to the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s as London Bowl champions after their extra time final victory over Kenya (21-19). Scotland needed a big second-half performance after they’d got their noses in front in the first thanks to a converted Tom Brown try. A lightening quick try from Scotland’s Lee Jones in the second period temporarily extended that lead but a Kenyan double snatched back the advantage going into, and through, regulation time. With Scotland in possession and the pressure on, the boys in blue kept their cool and worked their way up field, before picking the right time to release Andrew Turnbull through the middle. Scotland’s all-time top try scorer danced his way between the Kenyan defence before racing in under the posts. With regulation time complete Peter Horne steadied his nerves once more and sent the kick through the posts to seal the Bowl victory. Full time: 21-19 Bowl semi-final: Scotland 19-17 Spain Scotland will face England and Russia’s conquerors, Kenya, in the Emirates Airline London Bowl final after edging out Spain in the semi-final (19-17). Scotland clawed back a two try lead from Spain who scored their first after just 30 seconds and converted their second one minute later (12-0). Despite the worrying start, the Scots remained calm and struck back through Peter Horne after the Scots had worked the Spaniards with some good possession play. With the Spainish defence pulled this way and that, Horne spotted took the gap and burst through, high stepping the last diving defender to dot down before adding the extras (12-7). The Spaniards fought back and were deep in Scottish territory when Stuart McInally came to the rescue. The big back-row rose up and grabbed a lineout on the Scottish five metre line and powered into the Spaniards before sending the ball down the backs to Andrew Turnbull who turned on the after burners and sprinted in for the try. Peter Horne’s conversion went wide leaving it honours even at the break. Half time: 12-12 Scotland needed a strong second-half after an indifferent first, with a 30-second try from Horne a welcome relief in a challenging match. The opportunistic stand-off clipped the ball out of a messy ruck and dove to score before adding another conversion to hand the Scots the lead for the first time (19-12). However the ding dong battle continued when, with two minutes left on the clock, Spain were back at Scotland’s try line and picking up points thanks to a massive boot over the top and a grubber on to score under the posts. Fortune favoured Scotlant however as the conversion went wide (19-17). In a tense finished Scotland kept their cool and ran out the last seconds of the match before booting the ball to safety and booking their place in the final. Full time: 19-17 Bowl quarter-final – Scotland 26-0 Portugal Scotland will face Spain in the semi-final of the Emirates Airline London Sevens after an uplifting 26-0 win over Portugal. Edinburgh’s young player of the season, Lee Jones, was the man with the glory registering a hat-trick of tries, with Scotland captain Scott Riddell making a notable appearance with some superb work at the breakdown. Jones’ first effort was a lovely piece of solo skill when he collected the ball from the base of a scrum, on his own 22, and darted forward. The young lad form Selkirk then stepped the defender and bolted the length of the pitch to score. Horne converted to make it 7-0. Jones continued his lung-bursting omnipresence with a superb try-stopping tackle on his own five metre line before dotting down his second try back at the opposite end. Great interplay involving the all seven players saw Scotland quickly worked into Portugal’s half before Jones drifted and cut inside from the 22 to score. Horne made it two from two and Scotland were 14-0 up. The hooter sounded at the end of the half but, being two tries down, Portugal were desperate to claw one back before the interval. Sensing they’d try and force something out of the half from their own five metre line, Scotland’s defence was rigid and aggressive and, ultimately, created a crucial turnover which was fed to Stuart McInally to score. Horne’s conversion is just short but Scotland were looking good at 19-0 at half time. Half time: 19-0 Scotland returned to the field with confidence and played some lovely interplaying rugby with some training park backs’ moves coming off to great effect. However, despite their style, the dogged Portuguese defense kept them at bay until Jones completed his hat-trick with some lovely high-stepping footwork to score. Horne added the final conversion of the match and Scotland went through to the semis. Full time: 26-0