DAVID FERGUSON


LEADING Scottish rugby clubs will play a part in the build-up to the Scotland v New Zealand international on Saturday, with the launch of a new sevens tournament backed by The Scotsman newspaper.

The inaugural Scotsman Club Sevens will be staged at Murrayfield with the pool matches on the back pitches starting at 10.30am, climaxing with a seven-minute final during the half-time interval of Scotland's match against the All Blacks.


All 12 BT Premiership Division 1 teams will take part, and Glasgow Hawks centre Ally Maclay hopes it will be the start of an annual affair.

"Sevens is great for developing players and I enjoy it," he said. "The Borders sevens tournaments are great events and it would be good if we could have a regular national event."

Hawks will face Melrose in pool A, and Geoff Caldwell, the flying Melrose wing, is another fan of the abbreviated game. He added: "I missed the season when Melrose got to our own final, because I was injured, and I was gutted. Supporters love the excitement and speed of sevens, but so do the players because the game draws great crowds.

"The chance to play on the Murrayfield pitch in front of a Test match crowd is something few of our players will ever get the chance to experience, so I'm sure this will be competitive."

The SRU staged its first international sevens match before and after the recent Test match with Argentina. It was an entertaining affair with the Scots coming back against the Pumas, one of the best teams in world sevens, to draw 33-33. With still 20,000 tickets available for Saturday's game with New Zealand, the SRU hopes this club event will inspire more supporters to turn out.

Scotsman Club Sevens draw:

Pool A: Glasgow Hawks, Ayr, Melrose. Pool B: Watsonians, Aberdeen GSFP, Biggar. Pool C: Hawick, Currie, Stewart's-Melville. Pool D: Heriot's, Boroughmuir, Stirling County

This article was originally posted on 22-Nov-2005, 07:56 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 22-Nov-2005, 07:56.