| HOUSTON AND GRANT CROWNED MAGNIFICENT 7S |
|
|
| Monday, 01 June 2009 | |
|
John Houston and Roddy Grant shone out at the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Festival as Scotland 7s narrowly missed out on a place in the Final against Fiji following some heroic displays in the scorching heat. Both centre Houston and back row forward Grant rose supremely above the melee to deliver a series of formidable performances as Scotland 7s racked up wins over England, Canada and, for the first time in the small-sided game, Samoa. But unfortunately Scotland 7s, who also fielded Edinburgh quartet of Allister Hogg, Andrew Turnbull, Jim Thompson and Greig Laidlaw, ran out of steam against eventual Series winners, South Africa; losing in sudden death extra time. Remember both John and Roddy will be challenging for first team spots at Edinburgh next season and you can watch them continue their phenomenal progress by signing up for an 09/10 Season Ticket. Call 0131 346 5180 to make sure you don’t miss out on watching top-class rugby at a great value price.  Scotland starting team v South Africa: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton)South Africa starting team v Scotland: Mpho Mbiyozo, Frankie Horne, Vuyo Zangqa, Kyle Brown, Renfred Dazel, Ryno Benjamin, Mzwandile Stick Cup quarter-final: Samoa 12, Scotland 14 It was another afternoon of firsts for Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell as Scotland posted their first win over Samoa during his three year tenure. The Scots overturned a 12-0 half time deposit to snub Samoa’s Cup chances and book themselves their second ever Cup semi-final place in the space of two weeks. Scotland will now face newly crowned World Series champions South Africa, at 4:13pm. Amidst the post-match congratulations from the Murrayfield crowd, Gemmell said: “You don’t beat quality teams very often and we’ve had a few hidings from Samoa over the years. “There’s no better to get that win than here at Murrayfield and it’s all credit to the players. In the past we’d maybe have fallen off but there’s real belief in that dressing room and that’s mixed with a ‘never say die’ attitude and some quality rugby players. “To play and score in the manner that they did at the end speaks volumes for the players.” The Scots would now love to reach their first ever Cup final, and with Murrayfield filling up throughout the day, Gemmell believes that the crowd is the biggest weapon in their armoury. “I think the thing that’ll help us get over the line now is the crowd who have been magnificent. With fifty seconds to go and you hear ‘Scotland’ being chanted from the stands is an unbelievable feeling and the players just dug deep. Samoa controlled the early stages of the game with Uale Mai racing to the line after they exposed an obvious shortage of numbers on the Scots flank. Morgan Salesa could not add the extras from the touchline. Scotland began to mount attacks of their own with Sean Lamont powering up the touch line, however the final pass went amiss. Minutes later Greig Laidlaw released Lamont for a certain score, but that decisive pass was deemed to have been forward. Scotland then slipped even further behind as a simple inside pass was all it took to release Alafoti Fa’osiliva who burned to the line. Salesa converted to give the South Sea Islanders. If it was all Samoa in the first half, then no-one would challenge that it was all Scotland in the second. Good physicality at the contact area from Lamont gave Houston a glimpse of the line. A sharp cut back inside beat the defence and he dived over to get Scotland onto the score-sheet. Colin Gregor converted. It was indeed Houston whose thunderous running style sent him over the line for a second score before Gregor, with nerves of steel, slotted the winning conversion. Scotland starting team v Samoa: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton) Samoa starting team v Scotland: Alafoti Fa’osiliva, Levi Asifa’amatala, Uale Mai, Lolo Lui, Reupena Levasa, Mikaele Pessamino, Morgan Salesa Scotland starting team v England: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton) England starting team v Scotland: Tom Biggs, Rob Vickerman, James Rodwell, Ollie Phillips, Kevin Barrett, Ben Gollings, Chris Cracknell Scotland starting team v Kenya: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton) Kenya starting team v Scotland: Victor Oduor, Allan Onyango, Humphrey Kayange, Biko Adema, Gibson Weru Kahuthia, Lavin Asego, Collins Injera Scotland starting team v Canada: Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Sean Lamont (Northampton) Canada starting team v Scotland: James Buchanan, Neil Meechan, Sean White, Bryn Keys, Justin Mensah-Coker, Tony La Carte, Kyle Buckley Scotland 7s squad to compete at the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival (30 and 31 May): Scott Forrest (Ayr)* CAPTAIN, Mike Adamson (Glasgow Warriors), Roddy Grant (West of Scotland)*, Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Allister Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Sean Lamont (Northampton), Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh) * = Member of Scottish Rugby’s Contracted National Academy Edinburgh Pool C: Kenya, England, Canada, Scotland |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
| MAIN SPONSOR |
 |
| TEAM SPONSORS |
|
 |
 |
 |
