THE under-threat Scotland Sevens team could have made their last home appearance in the HSBC World Sevens Series if their pay masters at Murrayfield follow through on threats to axe the squad from the global competition.

Yesterday the Scots did everything they could to justify their continued existence with heroic performances against giants of the sevens game, New Zealand and South Africa, losing out to the two big SANZAR nations by small margins on either side of a characterful win over Canada in the Emirates-sponsored tournament at Scotstoun.

Overall, the Scots finished sixth after losing 12-10 to South Africa in a thrilling Plate final and will now travel south for next weekend's London Sevens with confidence.

But before London, the Scottish Rugby Board will meet on Thursday when the future of the sevens squad will be on the agenda ... and that could mean Scotland will go to Twickenham knowing they have been axed.

"That decision has not been made yet and until it is we'll be treating London as just another tournament. We're planning our pre-season now and until there is anything to the contrary we'll be focusing on that," said Scotland coach Calum MacRae.

If the Sevens squad is ditched then Scotland will lose part of its heritage, but the real loss would be sevens value as a tool for developing fifteens players.

Scotland's assistant sevens coach Graham Shiel suggested a number of current pro players owe a lot to sevens rugby.

He said: "Mark Bennett was brought into the sevens squad last season when he wasn't really getting regular game time with Glasgow. Playing in tournaments, and especially the Commonwealth Games, raised his confidence and look at what he has achieved subsequently."

The list of Scotland players who have come through the sevens process is long, and includes recently-capped Sam Hidalgo-Clyne at Edinburgh and Adam Ashe at Glasgow Warriors, while another Warrior to have benefited from being in the sevens squad is Peter Horne.

Meanwhile Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand will head to London to determine the top three order in this season's World Series to provide a thrilling finale at Twickenham.