SCOTLAND fell at the quarter-final hurdle late on day two of the Rugby Sevens World Cup at AT&T Park in San Francisco [11.32pm GMT on Saturday evening], slumping to a 36-5 defeat to South Africa. They now face hosts USA in the fifth to eighth place play-offs at 7.56pm GMT today [Sunday].
Werner Kok and Justin Geduld scored twice, while Siviwe Soyizwapi and Ruhan Nel also crossed tbe whitewash, as the Nlitzboks raced into an emphatic 36-0 lead, before a late consolation score from Andrew Coombes prevented a whitewash.
“Looking at the first half we actually did the difficult things well. South Africa like to put teams under pressure with unconventional re-starts and we dealt with that really well, but we then got caught up with the pressure they applied on us,” said Scotland coach John Dalziel.
“A few loose errors ball in hand and we’re 19-0 down and from there it was an uphill battle and we can’t keep pulling these games back against top opposition. South Africa and Fiji showed why they are the top two teams in the world with their performances in the Quarter Finals here today.
“The boys stuck at task and they’re learning every time they take the field. Today was about how to deal with pressure and this young group will take valuable lessons and move forward. We’re disappointed today but we still have a chance to equal the best ever finish by a Scotland team at a Sevens World Cup so lots to play for.
“Playing against the USA at their home World Cup is going to be a huge challenge but our young players should really savour the atmosphere, believe in themselves and it would be really nice to finish the tournament on two wins tomorrow.”
South Africa now face England in the semi-final of the main event this evening [8.40pm GMT], while New Zealand and Fiji meet in the other half of the draw [9.02pm GMT].
RWC 7s: Scotland through to last eight after famous fightback
Can someone please tell me why Scotland, who traditionally play in blue, wore green shirts to play the South Africans, who traditionally wear green.
I know football is daft with using change strips when not necessary, but, do we really need to go down that road. Scotland should wear blue whenever possible.