Scotland finish 10th overall on World Series

Scott Riddell scored the match winning try in extra time of his final game for Scotland 7s to bring the curtain down on a decade long career in the shirt.

The veteran’s match-winner against Japan saw Scotland finish 13^thin Paris and 10^thoverall on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings.

Scotland began the campaign against eventual finalists New Zealand and were close to a famous victory, falling just short. 12-14 the final score with tries from Alec Coombes and Glenn Bryce.

Next up in pool play were France and the hosts fed off the energy of their home support to win 28-12, Scotland’s tries coming from co-captains Robbie Fergusson and Jamie Farndale.

Japan looked to have condemned Scotland to three successive defeats in the final pool game but a Kaleem Barreto try deep into added time was converted from the touchline by Gavin Lowe to snatch the win by a point, 22-21.

Ireland were the opponents first up on day two and a brace of tries from Farndale wasn’t enough in a 12-24 defeat.

Scotland found their rhythm again against Spain in the following game however, scoring 7 tries including a hat-trick from Max McFarland as they romped to a 47-14 win.

If Scotland supporters thought the drama of their pool game against Japan was too much nothing would have prepared them for their 13^thplace play off against the same side.

Racing into a 19-0 lead, Scott Forrest’s men conceded four tries on the bounce to fall behind with just minutes to play.

Farndale scored at the death to send the game to extra time before Riddell raced through the Japenese defence straight off the kick off to cap off an excellent career in poetic fashion.

The most capped @Scotlandteam sevens player of all time with 74 tournaments to his name.

Scott Riddell scores in his final ever match.

This is why we love the game. Moments like this. pic.twitter.com/6JNSuZvry9

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) June 2, 2019

Scotland 7s Interim Head Coach Scott Forrest said: “Performances over the weekend were not as consistent as we had hoped and ultimately this showed in our results.

“We performed well against New Zealand in game 1 and although we pushed them close, we felt that we missed an opportunity to beat one of the top teams on the series this season.

“The France game was disappointing as we couldn’t secure ball from the restart which immediately makes life very hard and to get 2 yellow cards against a quality team like France we were not going to win the game.

“The Japan games on both Day 1 and 2 showed how much character there is in this group, to come back and win both those games with the final play was reward for their hard work.”
Scott Forrest

“It is disappointing to finish the last tournament in 13^th place but to finish with 2 wins on Day 2 was a positive, and for Scott to score the winning try with his last touch of the ball in the World Series was excellent.

“He has worked so hard for this team over the years and really added something in his last week with the team.

“Personally I have really enjoyed my time with the team, and leading the team over the last 2 weekends has been a great challenge.

“They are a good group to work and when you see the quality of the younger players coming through there is a lot of potential for this team in the future. I have learned a lot during the last month and want to thank both players and staff who have been involved for their efforts.”