Scotland scare All Blacks as Ibrox rocks to rugby sevens
By Gary Anderson at Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow
A packed house over two sessions today witnessed the thrills and spills of Commonwealth Games rugby sevens as the quarter-finalists were decided following the completion of the group stages here that almost included an historic win for hosts Scotland over New Zealand.
The All Blacks, winners of every title since the sport made its debut on the Commonwealth Games programme at Kuala Lumpur 1998, looked in cruise control when they went 17 points up in the first half.
But, a combination of a Scottish rally and indiscipline, which saw New Zealand’s Gillies Kaka and Tim Mikkelson sin-binned in the second period, had the 45,000 fans here roaring on a potentially famous win only for the All Blacks to hold on to secure a 17-14 win.
“It was close, but we let them get away in the first half,” said Lee Jones, scorer of two late tries.
“A 17-point lead is always going to be tough to bring back in.
“We kept hold of the ball in the second half and gave ourselves a chance.”
New Zealand had earlier kicked off their campaign for a fifth straight Commonwealth Games gold medal with a 39-0Â win over Canada before another drubbing of Barbados saw them top Pool A.
As for Scotland, they kicked off the evening session with a 56-0 thrashing of the hapless Barbados before Jones was to the fore again crossing the line as they secured a win against Canada in a winner-takes-all clash.
Scotland will now tomorrow take on Pool B toppers South Africa, who showed why they have finished second only to the All Blacks in the last two seasons of the Sevens World Series with comprehensive wins over Kenya, Cook Islands and Trinidad and Tobago.
The Kenyans have the daunting task of taking on New Zealand in the first of tomorrow’s matches.
England lost out to Australia in their Pool D clash which also saw star man Tom Mitchell carried off with a nasty foot injury ©Getty Images
Australia won the biggest match of the day as they beat England 15-7 to top Pool D after both sides had recorded big wins over Uganda and Sri Lanka.
The Delhi 2010 silver medallists’ reward is a quarter-final meeting with Wales, a particularly interesting tie for coach and Welshman Geraint John, who only recently took over the Australian head coach role.
“It was a good solid day,” said Aussie star Sean McMahon.
“The first two games we just tried to get back into it, and the last game we wanted to put a good one down on England to show we are serious.
“It was a very physical game from both sides but we just had to step it up one bar and get over them in the end.”
Wales and Samoa had also met in a winner-takes-all clash in the final match in Pool C following routine wins over Papua New Guinea and Malaysia.
It was the Samoans who claimed top spot with a 19-12 win in a close encounter to set up a clash with England.
The Bowl quarter-final line-ups will see Canada take on Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda versus Malaysia, Papua New Guinea against Sri Lanka while Cook Islands will take on a Barbados side that counts Anthony Bayne-Charles, the 31-year-old son of legendary British singer Billy Ocean, among its ranks.
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Article source: http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/jul/26/scotland-new-zealand-rugby-union-sevens-commonwealth-games
Scotland scare All Blacks as Ibrox rocks to rugby sevens
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