Today the Men’s Rugby 7s team made history at Trinbago 2023, as they became the first team in Scottish history to win a team medal at a Commonwealth or Commonwealth Youth Games.

With the mighty Fijians as their opponent in the Gold medal match, the task was going to be a tough one, as they were the only team in the competition who were still unbeaten.

Both teams got off to a quick start with two tries in the opening minutes and going into half time with the score tied 10-10, we knew this was going to go down to the wire.

Two second half tries from Fiji and from Scotland, scored by Jack Craig and Fergus Watson, saw the end of regulation time finish 20-20. Extra time here we come…

In line with the competition guidelines, we were heading to a golden try finish and the pressure was on. The team kept brilliant composure and focus and held off the attacks from Fiji. With a great burst of play, the ball came across to the right wing to Ross Birnie, who flew up the line to score the winning try! Final score 25-20 to Scotland!

Captain, Johnny Ventisei, said, “It’s absolutely amazing! I don’t think anyone actually thought we had a chance or that we could go and win it but that only gave us more drive to go out and win it today. The boys were superb against a strong Fijian side, so I’m just so happy with the result.”

Head Coach, Craig Dodds, following the win said, “I couldn’t be more proud of the way we stuck in today. We talked about pack mentality all week. Individually we might not have been as strong as some of the teams that we were up against but as a collective we felt like nobody could beat us. Some people didn’t think we could do what we did, but every person in this group believed we could do out and win it. To win in that way, extra time against Fiji in the final, is just incredible for this group of boys and what memories they are going to have for the rest of their lives.”