WINNING New Zealand sevens coach Gordon Tietjens has revealed how he pinpointed three Scottish dangermen to ensure his side's bid to lift a fifth grand prix title of the season at Murrayfield was not derailed at the quarter-final stage.
The all-conquering Kiwis duly defended their Edinburgh title after an epic two days of competition in the Emirates Airlines-sponsored event while Scotland also distinguished themselves despite going down to those eventual champions.
Scotland went
into the Plate tournament for teams eliminated in the round of the last eight where they then posted a first-ever victory over acknowledged maestros Fiji before losing to world No.2s South Africa.
Making it clear that Scotland have earned the renewed respect of the big guns Tietjens said that special plans were laid.
"Scotland rely so much on Colin Gregor and this came through when I did my video analysis on Saturday night," he explained.
Noting how Scotland had come through a tough qualifying pool featuring Australia, South Africa and Argentina, Tietjens added: "There were two guys who really stood out – Gregor and Richie Vernon who, as it turned out, missed the second day through injury.
"We knew we had to shut Gregor down and I also worried about Andy Turnbull.
"You have to pin Turnbull in the corner because he is quite deceptively quick and can't be given space.
"Having two or three game breakers is key and Gregor is certainly that although our Tomasi Cama was again exceptional over the past couple of days with his ability to hold the ball up and draw men on before taking off.
"Any side, including Scotland, with a Tomasi Cama would be all the better for that."
There was much more to the skill levels of a New Zealand side who beat Scotland 36-14 before going on to oust Samoa (14-0) and England (24-14) than composure, though, again as acknowledged by Tietjens, who first came to prominence coaching a Bay of Plenty side to the prestigious Melrose title in the early '90s. "What we are fortunate to have in New Zealand is good readers of the game and that can't be coached. Peripheral vision is all-important too.
"Nowadays sevens is such a physical game as well that you must be strong in contact.
"As with 15-a-sides, it all starts up front."
Learning from their experience against New Zealand, the Scots went into action against Fiji determined to make amends for losing to these South Sea Islanders in the Twickenham tournament a week earlier in the dying moments.
Again they almost blew a winning lead, Tietjens noting: "When Scotland got the ball out wide with a few seconds to go when leading Fiji I was surprised to see an inside pass tried (from which Fiji countered to equalise]. That's where you need composure."
Ultimately, though, it was sheer determination that got the Scots through, by 19-14, with a Ben Addison try in the ninth minute of extra time.
Summing up where Scotland found the inspiration, Andy Turnbull said: "Sevens are all about picking yourself up after you've been knocked down in a tie."
The message from the Edinburgh wing ace was that the last gasp setback in regulation time also required bouncebackability.
Equally important, too, was a try-saving tackle by new Edinburgh signing Jim Thompson, who somehow got back to haul down Setafano Cakau at the corner flag.
"The wet weather definitely helped me slide him into touch," said a modest Thompson.
However, Scots coach Steve Gemmell was unequivocal in saying that Thompson had played a prominent role in helping post a historic first win over Fiji.
"When Cakau got clear I turned away thinking it was over. Then all comes Jim showing great energy and work-rate to make the tackle which deflated Fiji."
So, Scotland had managed the scalp predicted by Gemmell and in going down to South Africa one tie later it was inevitable that exhaustion would take its toll.
At least the Scots remained competitive in losing by no more than 5-14 which was only to be expected given the way they had contested all three of Saturday's pool games.
Starting with a runaway win over Australia, they then missed out against the Springboks to a controversial penalty with the last kick of the match, which left them requiring a draw against Argentina to proceed.
In the event, they got exactly that with a 17-17 share of the spoils as a springboard in the second day – and what a day of highs and some lows although what was undeniable, it appears, was the quality of the organisation.
As winning coach Tietjens also said: "You don't get facilities like those at Murrayfield everywhere.
"The changing rooms are bigger and everything runs on time. Everything was well under control."
The full article contains 816 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
