Pool C, Canada 33 - 14 Scotland

The stark contrast in fortunes so prevalent in rugby sevens was what the Scotland 7s team experienced in abundance in their first outing of the IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai today.

Meeting Canada – who had knocked them out of the main tournament at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester – the Scots came up against a side that punished every mistake.

A furious Scotland 7s coach, Stephen Gemmell, said: “Our first half performance was unacceptable. Our heads went down straight after the first score and the players just looked shell-shocked.

“There are no excuses about the occasion because there are three players here who have been at a World Cup Sevens before and we’ve got two full internationalists in the squad.

“It’s not how we’ve trained all week, but teams aren’t judged on how they train, they’re judged on what happens during each game and that simply wasn’t good enough.

“The 13 of us, and I’m including myself in that, need to have a good look at ourselves before meeting Japan tomorrow.”

A dreadful first half for the Scots saw Canada register their full quota of points. Scotland looked weak in the tackle and second best at the re-start whilst struggling to retain possession. The second half was at least better.
 
Following a turnover at the breakdown, Canada went through the phases before James Pritchard slotted a neat grubber kick through the defence before dotting down. The try was converted. 0-7.

With Scotland unable to collect the Canadian re-start, Justin Mensah-Coker barged up the left wing and offloaded to Adam Kleeburger who had little else to do than simply touch the ball down over the line. 0-12.

Canada continued to dominate possession just as Scotland’s missed tackle rate kept on rising. A lovely individual attack from Ciaran Hearn saw him step Colin Gregor before showing good pace and agility to outwit the two remaining defenders.

More weak tackling from Scotland handed Canada their fourth try. The ball was spun wide and simple hands and strength shrugged off any defensive attempt from the Scots as Neil Meechan eventually scored. 0-26.

The final score of the half was a simple one as DTH van der Merwe scooped up a loose ball and ran the length of the field to touch down. 0-33.

Half-time score: 0-33

The second half was a more positive affair for Scotland as they kept their shape and gained enough possession to mount a serious challenge. Scotland also learned from their first half errors by keeping a clean sheet throughout the second period.

Colin Gregor, the captain, stepped up to the plate and, with some great link-up play from Colin Shaw and Scott Forrest in the mid-field, was able to finish of a well worked attack. 7-33.

From a stolen ball inside Scotland’s 22-metre line, it was Gregor once again who proved to be Scotland’s spark. Shaw and Forrest once again made significant ground up the midfield and Gregor finished the move off with a strong hand-off to the final defender. 14-33.

However, the damage was done in the first half and the Scots must now regroup before their two remaining Pool C fixtures against Japan and South Africa tomorrow.
 

Scotland 7s team v Canada: Scott Forrest (Ayr)*, Rob Dewey (Ulster), Andrew Easson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors) CAPTAIN, Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Roland Reid (Edinburgh)

Subsitutes: Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)* for Dewey, Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors) for Reid, Jim Thompson (Edinburgh) for Easson