Scots a step closer to Sevens heaven
SCOTLAND saved the best for last with some great Sevens rugby against Canada to clinch a quarter-final spot.
The showdown with the Canucks in both teams’ final pool game was always going to decide which side remained in the main Cup competition and it was nerve- shredding stuff.
But the Scots were hugely impressiveandwillnowfaceSouthAfricain the last eight.
TrymachineLeeJonesopenedthe scoring, darting inside his defender, and though Braid just managed to dot down in the corner to close the gap Richie Vernon showed a clean pair of heels to canter in under the posts for 14-5 at the turn.
Mark Bennett then showed great awareness to grab the decisive score and the Scots safely ran the clock down.
It was a day of mismatches and not even the presence in the Barbados ranks of 80s chart-topper Billy Ocean’s son could help the Caribbean team, the whipping boys in Scotland’s Pool A.
When the going got tough, they got hammered.
That’s what was expected when Scotland opened their campaign against Sevens machines New Zealand, never beaten in a Commonwealth match and winners of all four golds to date, but it was the closest game of the day.
Straightforward tries from Lam and Stowers (two) gave New Zealand a 17-0 half-time lead with Scotland penned into their own half.
But after the break Jones scored from Bennett’s pop pass and when Kaka (no, not that one) and Mikkelsen were sinbinned in short order for cynically killing the ball, the wing went over again.
There was a minute left but the Kiwis kept the ball and denied the Scots a first win against them at any level. The home side then kept their qualification hopes alive with an eight-try demolition of Barbados, who simply weren’t at the races.
Thesemightbethefriendlygames but England were the pantomime villains at Ibrox yesterday.
They were booed – goodnaturedly – onto the pitch by the crowd at Rangers’ ground while first opponents Sri Lanka got the sort of welcome usually reserved for Ally McCoist’s men.
It didn’t help, and we soon had yet another one-sided scoreline with the Auld Enemy running in nine unanswered tries.
Uganda provided scarcely stronger opposition as England made sure of their participation in the quarter-finals.
They played enduring rivals Australia in the penultimate game but two sinbinnings helped the Aussies top the pool and secure a quarterfinal againstWales, with England left to face Samoa.
New Zealand 39, Canada 0; Canada 68, Barbados 5; New Zealand 17, Scotland 14; Scotland 56, Barbados 0; New Zealand 59, Barbados 0; Canada 5, Scotland 21.
Kenya 28, Cook Islands 0; South Africa 36, Trinidad & Tobago 0; Cook Islands 33, Trinidad & Tobago 10; South Africa 50, Cook Islands 0; Kenya 35, Trinidad & Tobago 5; South Africa 20, Kenya 0.
Australia 62, Sri Lanka 7; Australia 43, Uganda 5; England 57, Sri Lanka 0; England 40, Uganda 0; Sri Lanka 14, Uganda 17; England 7, Australia 15.