Calum Cusiter, the elder brother of British & Irish Lions scrum-half, Chris Cusiter, will join the Scotland 7s squad for the two forthcoming legs of the IRB Sevens World Series in Wellington, New Zealand on 2-3 February and San Diego, USA on 10-11 February.

Cusiter, who plays professional rugby for the Border Reivers alongside his brother, was selected following last week’s announcement that Scotland A winger Thom Evans has also been drafted in adding out-and-out pace to the team.

Commenting on today’s news, Cusiter said: “I haven’t represented Scotland at sevens before so I was thrilled when I got the phone call.

“It will be a new experience for me playing on such a big stage and I am determined to show what I can do. It will be a bonus to get a taste of international rugby on the top sevens circuit.”

Also included in the new-look squad are Cusiter’s Border Reivers team-mates Scott Newlands and Sean Crombie along with National Academy (Edinburgh) centre Chris Kinloch.

Anticipating another exciting and challenging campaign in both New Zealand and the USA, during which they will face England and Fiji, who are tied in second place in the IRB Sevens World Standings, Scotland 7s head coach Stephen Gemmell added: “The new additions will strengthen our squad and we’re all working hard to build on the performances and the experience gained during the first two legs.”

“The selection also reflects on the preparations of the various national squads, as we enter a period of intense competition at all levels.

In line with Scottish Rugby’s integrated National Academy structure, the nucleus of this season’s squad is made up of National Academy players, with four fulltime professional players supplementing the core squad for the two forthcoming tournaments.

Also, as part of the continued co-operation amongst the national representative team coaches, no players eligible for the Scotland Under 20s squad have been selected, due to close proximity of the Under 21 Six Nations, whilst Ruaridh Jackson and Stephen McColl have not been considered to allow them to train with the Scotland U19s squad.

The IRB Sevens World Series reaches its finale in Scotland when the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens – 2007 is hosted at Murrayfield Stadium on 2-3 June.

Scotland 7s squad for Wellington, New Zealand (2-3 February) & San Diego, USA (10-11 February): Michael Adamson (Glasgow Warriors & Glasgow Hawks), Ben Addison (Glasgow Warriors & Stirling County), Sean Crombie (Border Reivers & Aberdeen GSFP), Calum Cusiter (Border Reivers), Thom Evans (Glasgow Warriors), Scott Forrest (Border Reivers & Hawick) CAPTAIN, Lee Kibble (Border Reivers & Gala), Chris Kinloch (Fettes College & Edinburgh Academicals), Scott Newlands (Border Reivers & Kelso), Mark Robertson (Border Reivers & Melrose), Colin Shaw (Glasgow Warriors), Colin White (Glasgow Warriors & Cartha Queen’s Park)

This article was posted on 18-Jan-2007, 14:32 by Hugh Barrow.