Scots fall into trap set by lack of Sevens

At the Hong Kong Sevens. A SENSE of deja vu prevailed in the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday night as Scotland got their campaign at the 25th Anniversary Hong Kong Sevens off to a disastrous start with a shock defeat at the hands of hosts Hong Kong.

Having last played together as a unit in December at the Dubai Sevens which launched the new IRB World Sevens Series, the Scots can hardly be surprised at their lack of cohesion and tactical awareness.

However, beneath the surface, a much deeper chasm is opening up in world sevens, a fissure into which the traditional European nations seem certain to fall should they fail to embrace sevens as a serious form of rugby union, a code important in its own right, but vital in developing young talent as a basis for Six Nations and World Cup prosperity.

When the inaugural 10-leg World Sevens Series left Dubai in December, it has toured the world from South Africa to South America, New Zealand to Fiji, and the Scots, like European colleagues England, Ireland and Wales have been conspicuous by their absence, standing still while the big three of Fiji, New Zealand and Australia have widened the gap in class and are all but out of sight.

More worrying for the Scots, aside from losing out to third tier units such as Hong Kong, is how a new world order is emerging in a second tier to which the Scots no longer belong.

Teams like Argentina, Canada, Samoa and even Korea are forging ahead, developing specialist sevens squads capable of winning a World Sevens Series title before too long.

On the field, the Scots registered their first win of the campaign 50-14 against lowly Thailand, running in eight tries. In their final qualifying Pool C match against the mighty Australians, who ran in five tries, the Scots got only a consolation try on the stroke of full time.

Scotland progressed to today's secondary Plate competition where they play the unpredictable French in their first knock-out tie, and could conceivably set up a repeat of last year's amazing Plate final against Japan, who ran in a 95-metre try deep in injury time to snatch the Plate trophy from under their noses.

With SRU coffers undergoing a period of rationalisation, one wonders, with an annual price tag in excess of a million, if SRU bosses will turn their backs on a code of rugby created, but sadly neglected, by the Scots in recent years.

Scotland's sevens coach Andrew Ker is worried about the future of sevens in SRU thinking, saying: "When we go back, people might say, 'but you underperformed in Hong Kong, so what is the point in investing further in sevens?' What we need is more, and not less sevens, and it is a wee bit depressing how teams like Argentina and Canada are benefiting from fortnightly competition at the highest level."

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