England went into the rugby sevens tournament at the Commonwealth Games as one of the favourites for the gold medal behind reigning champions and dominant force New Zealand.
However, their chances of finishing on the podium were over after their very first game of day two as they lost by a solitary point to Samoa in the medal quarter-final at Ibrox.
The defeat left them in the plate competition, and Simon Amor's side at least gave themselves the chance of some silverware with victory over host nation Scotland in a fiercely-contested semi-final in Glasgow.
England won the game 15-12, and the match itself was as close as the scoreline suggests, with Scotland fighting back from a 15-0 deficit at half time before coming agonsingly close to winning it in the final play.
After the final whistle, Phil Burgess spoke to Sports Mole about the match, his side's chances in the plate final, and the ill-discipline that has dogged their Commonwealth Games so far.
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That was an enthralling encounter between two great rivals. How did you find it?
"It was fantastic. It happens like that sometimes, the momentum is with you. First half we got some tries, then in the second half we made a little mistake, Scotland capitalised and just pushed us all the way.
"There was some fantastic last-minute defence from us, and great attack by Scotland. We managed to squeeze it out in the end, which was great for us."
Was the gameplan to make a quick start and then hold off the hosts in the second half?
"You try that in every game really. With the day being a long day today, we knew that we had to come out firing. Scotland came out pumped up with the great crowd here giving them all the energy. It was a case of 'we need to come out there', and we knew that they were going to be buzzing, and we just had to match it.
"It was one of those things where we got lucky with a couple of things [in the] first half, and then it's all steps from there. It's all swings and tides and they came back at us, and fair play to them."
England have had a lot of players sent to the sin bin over the weekend - has the ill-discipline played a part in what has been a relatively disappointing campaign?
"I think we're making the rough on our own back. I think we're competing very hard at the breakdown, and sometimes you've got to push the referees, you've got to twist the laws as far as you can go. I think early on we maybe pushed it a bit too far, and I think if we get a legitimate turnover we're maybe looked a little bit on as if it might be a penalty.
"But that's fine, because that's the way we're trying to play the game. To push ourselves on we're going to have to push ourselves to the limit, and if that's by trying to push the laws as far as they can go - you see some strange tactics out there, but that's the way the game's going. Everyone is as fit as they are and we just need to keep them going."
You've just seen off one home nations rival, and you'll take on another in the shape of Wales as you two battle it out for the plate. How do you see that match going?
"We'll go back in now and recover. I think that will be a great game. The support for the home nations here has been fantastic, and I think that final will be just as good. It's a buzzing atmosphere and hopefully we'll give the crowd something to shout about. "
England and Wales are due to face off at 8.38pm this evening. New Zealand and South Africa, meanwhile, will go head to head for the gold medal in the final match of the day.
Barney Corkhill
