Glasgow 7s: Scots to face England and All Blacks

Scotland have been drawn in a pool alongside New Zealand, England and Portugal for the Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s in May.

The draw for the tournament at Scotstoun, the eighth leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series, was conducted before yesterday’s final of the Tokyo 7s in which Scotland finished runners-up in the Plate.

Scotland took 12 ranking points from the Japanese event and keeps them in 12th place in the overall series standings, ahead of the United States on points’ difference. A top-12 finish in Glasgow will guarantee Scotland they do not have to take part in a relegation play-off at the London tournament in mid-May.

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Yesterday, Scotland lost their Cup quarter-final to France 14-10; bounced back to defeat current fourth-best team in the standings, Samoa, in their Plate semi-final 21-17 only to slump to the United States 17-0 in the final. It was a disappointing end to a tournament where Scotland also posted victories over Kenya and Wales.

Scotland head coach Stephen Gemmell said: “We’re in a position now where we have a tough draw in Glasgow and our day one target remains: Cup qualification. We are at home and we have to take advantage of that. We need a big home crowd behind us.

“We must front up. It will be a big month now for us as a group, but we need to get everything right to give ourselves the opportunity.

“If we pull out six performances of the quality we’re capable of, we’ll be fine, but the key for us is consistency,” he added.

South Africa rallied with three tries in the second half to defeat New Zealand 24-19 and win the title.

New Zealand held a 12-0 half-time lead in the final but the South Africans erased the deficit early in the second half with tries by Seabelo Senatla and Cecil Afrika converted by Branco du Preez.

A penalty by du Preez and a try by Cornal Hendricks completed the scoring for South Africa. Gillies Kaka, Tim Mikkelson and Ben Lam scored tries for series leaders New Zealand, who hold a 32-point lead over South Africa in the standings with two rounds remaining. It was South Africa’s second win of the series, following a 40-21 win over New Zealand in the final of the Las Vegas Sevens in February.

“It’s is not every day you beat New Zealand twice in the final,” South Africa head coach Paul Treu said. “Every win you have to take, and we can go back to South Africa as a happy team.”

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South Africa had beaten France 14-12 in the semis, while New Zealand advanced with a 35-17 win over Australia, who finished third, beating the French 31-7 in the play-off.

For Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s (Scotstoun, 4-5 May):

Pool A: South Africa, Samoa, Kenya, Canada.

Pool B: New Zealand, Scotland, England, Portugal.

Pool C: Australia, Fiji, Argentina, Spain.

Pool D: France, USA, Wales, Russia.