Scott MacLeod off to Japan as Scots exodus continues

Will the last player to leave please put out the lights? The exodus from Scotland's pro-teams continues with the news that Edinburgh lock Scott MacLeod is to move to Japan at the end of the season despite the club's best efforts to retain one of their best tight five forwards.

MacLeod adds to the flood of players who have fled Scotland's professional teams in recent years. Glasgow have already announced that Max Evans and Richie Vernon are moving to Castres and Sale Sharks respectively. The club admitted that they did not offer the big breakaway a new contract and the same is rumoured to be true of Evans, one of Scotland's most exciting backs who has just come off a very encouraging Six Nations.

MacLeod has enjoyed an eventful career including two run-ins with the doping authorities, although he was cleared of any wrong doing both times. He has won 24 caps (nine starts) in a career starting in 2004, and was quite outstanding against the Springboks last November, but the 32-year-old has slipped in the rankings of late and may now feel that securing his financial future is more important that turning out for Scotland. He came off the bench as a replacement against Wales but that proved his only appearance in the recent Six Nations.

Quite where the Japan move leaves MacLeod's World Cup hopes is open to question but it can't help his cause to be playing at the opposite end of the world. MacLeod is perhaps the first Scottish-born international to play club rugby in Japan although the "Kilted Kiwis" John Leslie, Brendan Laney and Matt Mustchin turned out for Sanix Bombs, Yamaha Jubilo and NTT Docomo Kansai respectively.

n Scotland missed out on places in the main quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Sevens after they could only finish second in their group yesterday and were denied a quarter-final place on points difference, narrowly edged out by Portugal.

Having edged out Tonga on Friday, Scotland easily saw off debutants Mexico 40-7 but a 31-14 defeat by Samoa meant they finished runners-up to the defending champions in Pool C and are condemned to a clash with Japan in the last eight of the Bowl.

Scotland's tries against Mexico came from Ross Miller, Fraser Harkness, Tom Bury, Andrew Skeen and a brace from Michael Fedo while Fedo and Skeen were on the scorecard against Samoa.