More of the youngsters were brought on after the break with Nick Abendanon of Bath scoring early in the second half having replaced captain Simon Amor (London Wasps).  Another substitution led to Worcester winger Marcel Garvey making his international sevens debut and scoring within moments of arriving on the pitch.  The final try of the match came from another new cap, Tom Croft, who played well all game, and crossed the line thanks to a great pass from fellow England Under 21 Grand Slam winner Haskell.  Four successful conversions from IRB Leading Points Scorer Ben Gollings (Doncaster) meant that England had a comfortable win in their opening match.

Speaking after the game, England Sevens Coach Mike Friday said, “There were some good points and some positive areas to take from the first game.  Six of the seven new boys came on and all played well although it is very obvious that they haven’t played in this kind of competition before. They need to get their sevens lungs on and weren’t helped by the heat which seemed to rise during the game.  Hopefully they have all learned how quickly you have to adjust to the conditions and type of game played at this level.  They are all still adjusting to the fact that there are only seven on them on the pitch.  Haskell and Croft showed good attacking form but need to improve defensively, especially when the ball is on the other side of the pitch.  That could catch you out in sevens.

We describe the tournament as a staircase and the players have certainly taken the first few steps up but there is still a long way to go.  Our restarts were good but whilst we got to all of them we still need to win all of them and will work on that between games.”

Assistant Coach Phil Greening was pleased with his team’s performance, especially the six new caps.  He said, “I was pleased with how they responded to the challenge. It was a real eye opening for them and I was pleased with their mental toughness to get through the 14 minutes.  Defence is our main focus and I was delighted with our ability to keeping to a zero.

England face Zimbabwe next at 16.38 local (12.38 GMT).

England:
Simon Amor (London Wasps), Tom Croft (Leicester Tigers), Ben Gollings (Doncaster), James Haskell (London Wasps), David Strettle (NEC Harlequins), Dom Shabbo (London Irish), Andy Vilk (Sale Sharks)
Replacements: Nick Abendanon (Bath Rugby), David Doherty (London Wasps), Marcel Garvey (Worcester)
Not used: Michael Hills (Sale Sharks), Rob Thirlby (Gloucester)

Scotland:
Forrest, Grant, Kibble, Adamson, Bringhurst, McCall, Robertson
Replacements: Forrester, McColl, Addison, White, Jackson

Referee: David Keane (IRE)