South Africa 7S 31 – 10 Scotland 7S

A young Scotland 7s team were put to the sword in their opening fixture of the opening event of the 2008/09 IRB Sevens World Series. The Scots’ last meeting with the Springbok 7 was in Edinburgh in the final event of last year’s IRB Series where they lost by a single point (21-22), but this time, the Scots seemed to lack the edge in experience to really challenge the South Africans at the new purpose-build Dubai venue – The Sevens.A young Scotland 7s team were put to the sword in their opening fixture of the opening event of the 2008/09 IRB Sevens World Series. The Scots’ last meeting with the Springbok 7 was in Edinburgh in the final event of last year’s IRB Series where they lost by a single point (21-22), but this time, the Scots seemed to lack the edge in experience to really challenge the South Africans at the new purpose-build Dubai venue – The Sevens. Scotland were trailing 24-0 at half-time before Edinburgh’s Andrew Easson touched down early in the second period. A converted try for the Springboks stretched their lead but Aberdeen Grammar’s Ashleah McCulloch grabbed a late score to end the game 31-10 in South Africa’s favour. Coach Stephen Gemmell said: We were bullied in the contact area. South Africa gained most of their possession and scored most of their tries through turnover ball. Things improved in the second half when we began to be a bit more direct but the damage was done in the first half. The Scots will now regroup before taking on Kenya at 11:32am GMT. Scotland 7s team v South Africa 7s: Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)* CAPTAIN, Struan Dewar (Heriots)**, Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Ashleah McCulloch (Aberdeen Grammar Rugby)**, Rory Hutton (Hawick)*, Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Grant Anderson (Ayr)* Substitutes: Fraser McKenzie (Edinburgh) for Shaw, Tom Bury (Boroughmuir)** for Anderson, Graham Hogg (Hawick)* for Hutton Scotland 7s’ remaining Pool B fixtures on day one (Friday 28 November) of the Emirates Airline Dubai 7s: 3:32pm – Kenya v Scotland 5:44pm – Scotland v Arabian Gulf (All times are local – Dubai is four hours ahead of GMT. Updates on the Scotland 7s team’s progress will be posted on scottishrugby.org). Scotland 7s squad: Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)* CAPTAIN, Struan Dewar (Heriots)**, Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Fraser McKenzie (Edinburgh), Chris Fusaro (Heriot’s)*, Ashleah McCulloch (Aberdeen Grammar Rugby)**, Tom Bury (Boroughmuir)**, Rory Hutton (Hawick)*, Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Graham Hogg (Hawick)*, Grant Anderson (Ayr)*, Chris Kinloch (Glasgow Warriors) * = Member of Scottish Rugby’s National Academy ** = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Area Institute Supported National Academy