Scotland Suffer South Sea Island Setback

Scotland suffered their first defeat of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens at Murrayfield to 2009/10 Series champions Samoa (33-10). After the great showing in game one to beat Fiji, the Scots could not confirm Cup qualification in their second pool match against the formidable South-Sea Island side and now face the USA at 7.11pm, needing a win to make the Cup quarters. A trio of first-half tries and two expertly struck conversions put Samoa in the driving seat going in at the interval, with the hosts struggling for opportunities to put the ball through the hands. HALF TIME: 19-0 After the break the Scots finally showed what they could do with a bit more ball. Some great work from replacement forward Michael Fedo inspired a fleeting comeback after he earned territory with some fine running into the Fiji half. The former Bell Baxter and Howe of Fifer then fed the ball through Jim Thompson to Scott Newlands who burrowed over, causing memories of Scotland’s earlier fight-back against Fiji to course through ground. Unfortunately for the home fans, Scotland gave away an easy score from the restart to quash those dreams – Samoa catching the ball cleanly and passing it to Afa Aiono to run in the converted try, 26-5. Fedo shone once more with Scotland’s second score, gliding through the wide channel before wrong-footing the last defender and offering him a solid stiff arm to score, 26-10. The reigning Series champions had the last say however when they underlined their physical prowess one final time, forcing the Scots to infringe on the try-line to earn the penalty try after the hooter. Alatasi Tupou slotted his fourth conversion to end the comfortable win. {gallery}scosamoa{/gallery} SCOTLAND v SAMOA: Scott Riddell, Jim Thompson, Stuart McInally, Lee Jones, Colin Gregor, Scoot Newlands, Peter Horne SCOTLAND SEVENS SQUAD FOR THE EMIRATES AIRLINE EDINBURGH SEVENS: Tom Brown (Edinburgh), Struan Dewar (Edinburgh elite development player), Michael Fedo (Team Northumbria), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Lee Jones (Edinburgh), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Scott Newlands (Edinburgh), Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)