Scotland 19

England's opening match in the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens kept the crowd on the edge of their seats as Scotland put up an impressive show against England, who are ranked second in the world. England eventually won in the final play of the match (24 - 19) but it was down to the experienced players within the squad to finally secure the win.

England started well with an early try from Saints Academy centre Neil Starling who was making his England Sevens debut. A failed conversion from captain Simon Amor followed quickly by a try by Kenny Sinclair from Scotland, which was successfully converted by Colin Gregor, meant England were trailing 5 - 7.

A further try by Rory Cooper for Scotland meant the pressure was building for England but the IRB Sevens player of the year, Simon Amor, soon followed with a try making the score 10-12 at half time.

Ugo Monye replaced Paul Sampson at the break but within seconds Kai Horstman had been given a yellow card for holding back a man. Two minutes in the sin bin meant the pressure was building for England with only six players on the pitch.  Another successfully converted try by Scotland led to England Head Coach Mike Friday deciding to opt for experience, and replaced the new caps Mathew Tait and Neil Starling with the more experienced Rob Thirlby and Peter Richards.

The tactic paid off as a thrilling run the length of the pitch from Ugo Monye, successfully converted by Simon Amor, closed the gap to just two points.

An error by Scotland who delayed their line out throw too long meant England had a chance only to lead to an unfortunate knock on by Ugo Monye yards from the try line.  Further delays by the referee and the touch judge meant there were just seconds remaining but a final penalty to England gave Peter Richards the chance he needed to touch down just after the hooter had been blown.  A successful conversion by Amor meant that England had the win they needed with a final score of 24 - 19.

England:

Simon Amor (Captain), Geoff Appleford, Kai Horstman, Anthony Roques, Paul Sampson, Neil Starling, Mathew Tait.

Replacements: Ugo Monye, Peter Richards, Rob Thirlby.

Scorers:

Tries - Starling, Amor, Monye, Richards.

Conversions - Amor (2)

Scotland:

Oliver Brown, Rory Couper, David Gray (Captain), Colin Gregor, Mark Lee, Kenneth Sinclair, Andrew Turnbull.

Scorers:

Tries - Sinclair, Couper, Boston.

Conversions: Gregor (2)