Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, has today named an initial squad of 18 players ahead of the Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 May.

As well as opting for the core group of players who have been involved throughout the majority of the series, Shiel welcomes Edinburgh Rugby backs Jim Thompson and John Houston, as well as twins Gregor and Lewis Young from Jed-Forest and Rory Hughes from Glasgow Hawks.

Shiel said: “Being at home for the next leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series we have a bit of extra time and some extra players to assess and be involved ahead of the tournament before I decide on the final 12 players.

“We’re constantly looking to put the strongest Scotland 7s squad together that we possibly can and it’s great to have Jim Thompson and John Houston, two seasoned sevens players with experience on the circuit, joining us at this stage.

“We also welcome Gregor and Lewis Young into the squad. They are two of the most on form sevens players in the club game at the moment and they have been working very hard in training through the season with the sevens squad, it’s their first time involved but they certainly deserve their spot.

“It’s also good to have so many players who have been travelling with us for the entire season available for selection. They understand the demands of the series.”

Nearly 20,000 tickets have been snapped up for the series’ first visit to Glasgow, as fans prepare for one of the biggest weekend’s in the rugby calendar.

There are some huge match-ups in the pool stages of the Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s  with Scotland 7s taking on Wales, South Africa and Russia at 11.58am, 3.04pm and 5.53pm respectively.

Shiel continued: “We want to get the home support behind us by playing exciting attacking rugby, and to be able to win some silverware would be great for the players and supporters alike.”

The initial Scotland 7s squad for the Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s is as follows:

*Ross Miller (Glasgow Hawks), Struan Dewar (Scotland 7s), *Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Michael Fedo (Northumbria University), Rory Hughes (Glasgow Hawks), Adam Ashe (Stirling County), Hamish Watson (Edinburgh Accies), Mark Robertson (Scotland 7s), Sean Kennedy (Stirling County), Sam Hidalgo-Clyne (Heriot’s), Colin Gregor (Scotland 7s), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh Rugby), John Houston (Edinburgh Rugby), James Fleming (Scotland 7s), Andrew Turnbull (Scotland 7s), Byron McGuigan (Scotland 7s), *Gregor Young (Jed-Forest), *Lewis Young (Jed-Forest)

*sportscotland institute supported


Categories: Scotland, Scottish Rugby, Sevens, smb
Tags: Emirates Airline Glasgow, Gregor, Jim Thompson, Scotland

This article was posted on 24-Apr-2012, 14:31 by Hugh Barrow.