Scotland face Namibia in QF of SA 7s Bowl

Posted on Dec 10, 2010 in Rugby News

Scotland will face Namibia in the quarter-final of the South Africa 7s Bowl after finishing third in Pool A today.

The Scots got their day-one campaign off to a good start with an impressive (21-12) win over France but were ultimately undone by Dubai 7s Plate semi-finalists Wales and finalists Australia.

Having knocked the French out of the Bowl quarter-final in the Dubai 7s last weekend (28-22), the opener was lined up to be a hard-fought affair, but tries from Michael Fedo and a brace from James Fleming were enough to seal out the tie.

Despite the positive start, the match one win was Scotland’s last of day, losing in tense and winnable encounters with Wales (19-7) and Australia (21-7) in matches two and three.

Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, said: “These young players have stood up to a very tough international environment and gained some valuable experience but, at the moment, the overriding feeling is one of disappointment in that we haven’t come away with two wins – which is testimony to the way the players have performed against very strong sevens teams.

“Today’s results have underlined that the margin between errors and points in international sevens is very slim.”

First-half scores from Richard Pugh and Ifan Evans meant that Wales were clearly in the driving seat at the break in game two, with Rhys Jones’ single conversion giving them a 12-0 cushion at half-time however the resilience of the Scotland 7s team has been evident in recent times and a score from Ross Samson (converted by Skeen) put the Welshmen under clear pressure as the minutes wore on deep into added time (12-7).

Unfortunately it was Wales’ Tom Isaacs who got the crucial score, two minutes after the siren, to win the game.

In the final match of the day, the Scots took on Commonwealth Games silver medallists Australia and, with some gritty attacking and defensive play, kept the Aussies in line until the end of the half when their efforts were undone by two late scores from Johnathon Lance (6’30) and Gregory Jeloudev (7’48), both of which were converted by Hamish Angus.

Battling back against the Aussies was always going to be a challenge for the young team – a point that was soon underlined when Angus converted his own score after two minutes of second-half play (21-0).

Accurate and well executed sevens play saw Scotland’s Dougie Fife pull one back for the Scots (converted by Andrew Skeen) on the five minute mark but his score was the game’s last, meaning Scotland line up to face Namibia in tomorrow’s Bowl quarter-finals.

A determined Shield added: “Our focus is now fully on having a successful day tomorrow. The players have stepped up to every challenge we’ve set as a team and they will make every sacrifice to improve their performance under pressure.”

After the opening two tournaments, the eight-event HSBC Sevens World Series will break until February before taking its unique brand of entertainment to New Zealand, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland, climaxing at Murrayfield on 28-29 May 2011.

SCOTLAND 7s SQUAD:
David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby/Hawick), Struan Dewar (Edinburgh Rugby elite development/Heriot’s), Michael Fedo (Team Northumbria), Dougie Fife (Currie), Graham Fisken (West of Scotland), James Fleming (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), Fraser Harkness (Selkirk), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), James Johnstone (Glasgow Warriors elite development/Currie), Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Ross Samson (Edinburgh Rugby/Boroughmuir), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians)

FOR PLAYER PROFILES OF THE SCOTLAND 7s SQUAD PLEASE VISIT WWW.SCOTLANDRUGBYTEAM.ORG

2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series schedule
Dubai, UAE – 3-4 December 2010
George, South Africa – 10-11 December 2010
Wellington, New Zealand – 4-5 February 2011
Las Vegas, USA – 12-13 February 2011
Hong Kong – 25-27 March 2011
Adelaide, Australia – 2-3 April 2011
London, England – 21-22 May 2011
Edinburgh, Scotland – 28-29 May 2011

Ben Ryan on Commonwealth Games draw for England Sevens

Posted on Jul 2, 2010 in Rugby News

England will face Australia in the pool stages of the Rugby Sevens at the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi in what coach Ben Ryan describes as “the tastiest match in the qualifying round”. The 2006 silver medallists have been placed in Pool D with the Wallabies, Namibia and Sri Lanka for the tournament that takes place on October 11 and 12 this year. England were beaten 29-21 in the Melbourne final four years ago when New Zealand claimed their third gold medal following their wins at Manchester (2002) and Kuala Lumpur (1998).

“It brings it all to life now the draw has been made and it will concentrate our minds on the task in hand and what we need to do over the two days to finish top of the pile at the Commonwealth Games,” said England Sevens head coach Ryan.

“Over the years we’ve had the upper hand against Australia but this season just gone they’ve put together a side equal to any in the world. The scoreline from the last IRB Sevens World Series reads won two, lost two, drawn one which shows you how tight it’s been. It’s going to be an absolute ding-dong in Delhi and it’s the tastiest match-up in the qualifying round.

“It’s also good to be playing sides we haven’t met before in the pool stages. We’ve never played Namibia before as far as I know and last played Sri Lanka a couple of years ago in Hong Kong.

“One of the most exciting things is being part of a larger Team England. Building relationships, seeking advice and sharing knowledge with other sports is something we’ve been doing for a while and to be able to go to the Commonwealth Games with them all will be a great experience.”

New Zealand are in Pool A, where they will face opening matches against World Series regulars Scotland and Canada as well as Caribbean champions Guyana.

South Africa, the 2002 bronze medallists, head Pool B and face opening ties against Wales, Tonga and the host nation India.

IRB Sevens World Series champions Samoa top Pool C and take on Kenya, Uganda and Papua New Guinea.

England will announce their training squad for the Commonwealth Games later this month.

Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens, October 11-12

• Pool A: New Zealand, Scotland, Canada, Guyana
• Pool B: South Africa, Wales, Tonga, India
• Pool C: Samoa, Kenya, Uganda, Papua New Guinea
• Pool D: England, Australia, Namibia, Sri Lanka

Namibia claim Africa 1 qualification for RWC 2011

Posted on Nov 30, 2009 in Rugby News

Namibia has won the battle for the Africa 1 qualification spot for Rugby World Cup 2011 (RWC 2011) after defeating Tunisia over a two-match series with an aggregate score of 40-23.

The sides met two weeks ago in Tunis, where Namibia claimed a narrow victory, defeating the home side 18-13. The second leg of their challenge took place yesterday on Namibian homesoil in Windhoek where they defeated the visitors 22-10.

Namibia’s qualification now completes Pool D which includes Fiji, Samoa, South Africa and Wales.

“Our warmest congratulations go to Namibia on their qualification for RWC 2011. The completed line up for Pool D is very strong and will provide some exciting matches in 2011. In particular, I am looking forward to Namibia’s match against their African neighbours, South Africa,” said Rugby New Zealand 2011 Ltd (RNZ 2011) CEO Martin Snedden.

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