The IRB Sevens World Series gets underway next weekend in Dubai before moving onto George in South Africa, so today, Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell announced a strong and well prepared squad for the opening tournament of the season.

“There’s some continuity in our squad now. We’ve got Scott Forrest, Mike Adamson and Colin Shaw who have sevens as their main competition.

“It’s nice to have that backbone and also having Hefin O’Hare and Andrew Turnbull involved in the squad who were in London and Edinburgh last season. That’s five players there who have been involved in consecutive semi-finals.”

There are six new caps in the squad, among which are Bath scrum-half Mike Baxter, Sale Sharks back-rower David Tait and Glasgow’s formidable ball carrying flanker James Eddie.

However, despite the influx of new faces, all but Tait have been involved in the squad’s pre-season camps in Delhi and France, the first time the sevens squad has undertaken such a thorough pre-season regime.

Gemmell also announced the return of full-time professionals Hefin O’Hare and Andrew Turnbull, both of whom were involved in Scotland’s first ever semi-final spots in London and Edinburgh last year.

He continued: “We’ve had good support from both pro-teams again in getting release of Hefin [O’Hare], Turny [Andrew Turnbull] as well as James Eddie. I’m excited by the squad.

“All of the players in this squad, with the exception of David Tait, were either with us in Delhi or in France. The squad is selected on merit and David is someone we’ve been aware of in terms of being Scottish qualified playing at Sale.

“He’s been involved in the Guinness Premiership and the Heineken Cup this year. He’s a rangy ball carrying number eight so that gives us yet another string to our bow.

“We’ve maybe, in the past, not always had that strength in depth and I feel with this squad of 12 that we’ve got here that that we have got strength in depth.

“All of these players firstly will have to play, but secondly are more than capable of playing, and when we’ve had that in the past, we’ve done well.”

Meanwhile, as the senior Scotland team continues to inspire the nation through their winning performances in the Bank of Scotland Corporate Autumn Tests, Gemmell hopes that his charges can continue to enthuse rugby fans as the nation builds towards the Commonwealth Games in Delhi next year.

“I hope that through our performances on the World Series this year, we can enthuse people to get involved and interested in rugby,” said Gemmell.

“Scotland have put out a massive statement over the last couple of weeks with victories over Fiji and Australia and we’ve now got to follow that.

“If we want people to get behind Scottish rugby then we need to be performing. We’re just now all looking forward to getting on the plane, getting to Dubai and getting our preparation right so we’re ready to perform.”

The profile of rugby sevens has seen a sharp rise in recent months, not only due to the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, but its inclusion in the Olympic programme from the 2016 event in Rio De Janeiro.

Now Gemmell admits that there are numerous targets for his side as a huge season for sevens nears the start line.

“It’s a new World Series and it’s an exciting year to be a part of it,” he said. “The decision about the Olympics will have given everyone a new focus throughout the world.

“The unique thing about sevens is that the majority of the top teams are part of the Commonwealth. So there’s one eye on the World Series and, as we near the end of the World Series in Edinburgh next year, people will start to look towards Delhi.

“For the players, and everyone involved in Scottish rugby, it’s a massive opportunity to be involved in the Commonwealth Games.”

Scotland 7s squad to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series events in Dubai (5 & 6 December) and George, South Africa (11 & 12 December): Scott Forrest* CAPTAIN, Mike Adamson*, Grant Anderson (Ayr)**, Mike Baxter (Bath), James Eddie (Glasgow Warriors), Peter Jericevich (Glasgow Hawks)**, Lee Jones (Selkirk), Stuart McInally (Watsonians)**, Hefin O’Hare (Glasgow Warriors), Colin Shaw*, David Tait (Sale Sharks), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)

This article was originally posted on 27-Nov-2009, 08:18 by Hugh Barrow.
Last updated by Hugh Barrow on 27-Nov-2009, 08:36.