SCOTS HANDED TOUGH TWICKENHAM TIES
Posted: 23/Apr/07
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Scotland 7s head coach Stephen Gemmell has spoken of the challenge his side face in the penultimate leg of the IRB Sevens World Series which hits Twickenham, London on 26-27 May.

The Scots have been drawn alongside title chasers New Zealand, who are only 14 points off the top spot in the IRB Sevens Standings, Italy and Kenya, who are only two points behind the Scots.

However, Gemmell is looking to build on his sides performances in the last three events on the eight-leg series: “We have reached the Cup quarter-finals in San Diego, Hong Kong and Adelaide so our improvements in the early stages of the series are becoming more apparent and our performances more consistent.

With previous game-time against both New Zealand and Kenya, Gemmell continued: “We are one of the top eight seeds so we’re a target for teams to really have a go at. There’s nothing more satisfying than bringing down one of the top teams, as we experienced when we beat Argentina and Australia in San Diego.

“We played New Zealand in the Adelaide Cup quarter-final and we are confident of our ability to compete against teams of that calibre. New Zealand are still in the running for the series title so they will be desperate to take maximum points from their time in London.

“Italy are a bit of an unknown quantity to many teams on the circuit because they have only played in one tournament this year, Hong Kong. However, we had a training game against them as part of our tournament preparations which will come in very useful in the coming weeks.”

Looking forward to playing at both Twickenham and Murrayfield, Scotland 7s captain Scott Forrest added: “We have travelled all over the world now and have received some fantastic support from both travelling fans and very enthusiastic ex-pats.

“There is a big Scottish community in London and I hope they will all come out and cheer us on as we look to finish the season well with a solid performance at Twickenham and then a lively homecoming at Murrayfield.”

Following the action at Twickenham, rugby sevens will return to the country of its birth, Scotland, on 2-3 June for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s, the final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.

The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s will feature the world’s top teams over two days of fast flowing, skilful and dynamic international rugby sevens together with a fun-packed Festival of Rugby on the back pitches, making it the ‘not-to-be-missed’ event of the summer.

Tickets are available now at the great value price of only £10 for one day or just £15 for both (with free concessions on all pre-booked tickets).

The sevens are coming, visit www.edinburgh7s.com.

The draw for the IRB London Sevens (26-27 May):
Pool A - Fiji, France, Argentina, Russia
Pool B – Samoa, Australia, Canada, Georgia
Pool C – New Zealand, Scotland, Kenya, Italy
Pool D – South Africa, England, Wales, Portugal

Scotland 7s’ fixtures on day one (Saturday 26 May) of the IRB London Sevens:
10:50am, Scotland 7s v Italy 7s
1:56pm, Scotland 7s v Kenya 7s
5:35pm, New Zealand 7s v Scotland 7s

2006/07 IRB Sevens World Series
Dubai, UAE – 1-2 December
George, South Africa – 8-9 December
Wellington, New Zealand – 2-3 February
San Diego, USA - 10-11 February
Hong Kong – 30 - 31 March & 1 April
Adelaide, Australia – 7-8 April
London, England – 26-27 May
Edinburgh, Scotland – 2-3 June

This article was posted on 23-Apr-2007, 14:59 by Hugh Barrow.