Scotland 7s finished their IRB Sevens New Zealand tournament outing on a high by lifting the Shield in Wellington, earlier today.

After going down 12-22 to Australia in the Bowl quarter final, the Scots then overcame Canada (14-7) in the Shield semi final before beating giant killers Niue - who had earlier seen off Samoa 21-12 in the other semi - by 26-0 in the Final.

Andrew Easson scored twice for the Scots with further tries from Roland Reid and Andrew Turnbull.

The Cup was won by England, who beat favourites New Zealand; South Africa saw off Wales, to lift the Plate; and the Cook Islands beat Australia then Tonga to take the Bowl. 

 At the conclusion of the tournament, Scotland 7s coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “We were disappointed not to beat Australia in order to progress in the Bowl competition, but it’s encouraging that we’re back in contention for games now.  We were close in our games yesterday, and we beat Tonga who went on to beat South Africa, so we’re definitely on the upward slope.”

On today’s performances, Gemmell saw further improvement in his side’s execution and looks forward to carrying that into the final IRB Sevens World Series event (USA) before the Rugby World Cup Sevens in March.
 
“These results give us something to take on into San Diego. No-ones getting carried away with things but it does provide us with some momentum.  Niue beat Samoa to get to the Shield semi-final and that shows the level of their ability. I feel we played some of our best rugby in the final.
 
“Next week won’t get any easier though as this weekend we played the winner of the last two tournaments, South Africa, and next weekend, we will be playing the winner of this tournament, England.  All-in-all, it’s another six games under our belt in the build-up to the Rugby World Cup Sevens.”
 
Scotland 7s team v Australia: Roland Reid (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Gregor (captain, Glasgow Warriors), Rory Hutton (Hawick)*, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)+. Substitutes: Graham Hogg (Hawick)* for Grant, Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors) for Reid, Jamie Hunter (West of Scotland)* for Hutton
 
Scotland 7s team v Canada: Roland Reid (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Richie Vernon (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Gregor (captain, Glasgow Warriors), Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)+. Substitutes: Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors) for Reid, Graham Hogg (Hawick)* for Vernon, Marc Teague (Edinburgh) for Turnbull

Scotland 7s team v Niue: Roland Reid (Edinburgh), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Gregor (captain, Glasgow Warriors), Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)+. Substitutes: Jamie Hunter (West of Scotland)* for Easson, Rory Hutton (Hawick)* for Adamson, Marc Teague (Edinburgh) for Turnbull