Impressive third place for Merchi in national 7s

Merchiston Castle, George Watson’s and Dollar Academy were in action at the National School Sevens, hosted by the Rosslyn Park club in south west London.

Merchiston finished joint-third thanks to a set of results that showed Scottish Schools are able to compete with their English and Welsh counterparts.

Unbeaten in the group stage, Merchiston saw off Welsh College Brynteg (52-7), Truro School (32-7), Lord Wandsworth College (52-12) and Shiplake College (34-19). In the knockout round they defeated Royal Hospital School 35-12 to reach the day two pool stage, where wins over Cheltenham College (33-5) and Tonbridge School (197) put them just two matches from the final.

The Edinburgh school beat Epsom College 19-14 but were edged out 12-15 by Rugby School.

Coach Roddy Deans said: “This was a real squad performance. To finish joint third out of 180 schools was testament to the hard work these boys have put in. To beat Epson College who were tagged as favourites was very satisfying. We left having gained real respect.”

Watson’s were also unbeaten in their group, defeating Uppingham School (22-10), Park House School (48-0), Ipswich School (39-0) and Kingswood School (52-0). Then in the elimination round Watson’s overcame a strong St Peters, School, York 24-19.

On Day 2, the Myreside team lost out 14-10 to Epsom but defeated Eton 24-5 to finish second in their quarter final group.

Watson’s coach Ally Donaldson said: “I was delighted with how they did.

“We were very unlucky not to beat Epsom to get in to the semi-final,” said the former Currie head coach.

For Dollar Academy there was the disappointment of finishing second in their day one group.

However, the Clackmananshire school did well with wins over Manchester Grammar (31-7), Hereford Cathedral School (26-17) and Queen Elizabeth’s Hospital (47-5) before losing 39-7 to Campion School.