Richard Bath: Dream start for home squad but Russia get as many cheers

Published on Saturday 31 May 2008 20:01

AND LO it came to pass that the sun did shine and Scotland did look pretty tasty at the rugby. Granted, it wasn't 15-a-side, and yes Scotland did lose against the South Africans when it looked easier to win, but after a year which contained significantly more lows than highs, for the opening day of the Sevens to pass so smoothly represents something of a minor miracle.

All in all, it's difficult to see how the day could have gone much better, bar the presence of the 56,000 or so extra fans who would have filled up the stadium. That, though, was rendered a minor detail by a crowd of 11,666 which was intoxicated by the heady mix of sunshine and the equally rare sight of a Scotland side that didn't just win but did so with panache and verve. No wonder the stands were jumping.

Not that the gloriously cosmopolitan Murrayfield crowd was made up just of Scots. These Sevens drew rugby fans from all over the world, and all manner of walking cliches were on offer. There were Spaniards in their sombreros, Welshmen hugging six foot blow-up leeks, Fijians wearing sarongs and sandals, and even a smattering of Canadians in lumberjack shirts and drawn-on monster Dirk Diggler-style 'taches. There were even some tattooed Englishmen in, er, togas.

Outside the stadium, little kids played touch rugby on the back pitches or got Saltires painted on their faces, while the big kids basked in the sunshine, beers in hand.

Not even the drone of a couple of teenagers mumbling along to the words of Sweet Caroline on the karaoke could dissipate the feelgood factor, especially as the crowd were also presented with a new Scottish hero to laud. Stevie Gemmell's boys played above themselves and were generally impressive, but 23-year-old Jim Thomson was magnificent, scoring two tries in the 33-7 thumping of the Aussies and grabbing another against the Springboks. It wasn't just that he scored tries, more that he looked like a class act who had time on the ball and the pace and vision to carve out space for others.

As Bill McLaren's grandson and Rory Lawson's cousin, the big Borderer comes with an impeccable pedigree, but he otherwise arrives on the scene as a virtual unknown to most of the crowd.

A 6ft 1in centre or full-back, he may have just signed up with Edinburgh and scored six tries for Scotland's sevens team this season, but he was an amateur playing with Heriot's until a fortnight ago. It's heartening to know that there are still undiscovered gems out in clubland capable of making the step up.

For most of the afternoon, though, this wasn't about Scotland; it was a celebration of the Sevens code which started in Melrose with Ned Haig 125 years ago but which is now serving as the most important missionary force for the game outside of the traditional rugby-playing countries.

They may not be powers in the 15-a-side game, but countries like Kenya, Russia, Spain and Portugal are veterans of the sevens scene and more than capable of springing an upset when it comes to the sawn-off version.

The crowd certainly did all it could to inspire the underdogs in their quest to take the big boys down a peg or two. They willed Moldova – yes, Moldova – to break their duck against the mighty Fijians, and roared their approval when Alexandr Bulgac outpaced the white-shirted cover after a move in which the ball passed through all seven pairs of hands. They even got the conversion too, although Fiji looked to be operating in second gear as they racked up a 52-7 win, the biggest of the day.

The most raucous cheers of the day were reserved for those three giants of world rugby, Evgeniy Mateev, Nikolay Shugay and Igor Galinovskiy. What do you mean you've never heard of them? They are, of course, the three Russians who scored against England in a 17-17 draw that brought the crowd to its feet as if it was another set of boys in blue out there.

The decibels as they scored were matched only by the groans as Yury Kushnarev missed the last-minute conversion that would have seen the Auld Enemy defeated. Those Russkis could scarcely credit just how popular they were.