Scotland 7s captain Andrew Turnbull joined all 24 captains of the 2011 Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens at the official launch hosted at the tournament hotel ahead of the competition’s kick-off.
While leading the team is a familiar feat for the speester (who tomorrow will run out in his 29th World Series tournament) standing in front of the officially certified World Record-setting largest rugby ball was a new addition to the captain’s experience of the series.
However, the ball, which will soon be auctioned to generate funds for Red Cross aid efforts to New Zealand and Japan in the wake of the two countries' earthquakes, was not out of place against the spectacular Hong Kong island backdrop.
Turnbull said: “This is my fifth time at the Hong Kong tournament so I’m quite used to it but I remember my first time here and I was quite in awe of it all, I had never played in front of a crowd of more than 5000 at the time and all of a sudden you're in front of a 48,000 sold out, banging stadium, so it was quite an eye opener for me.
“It’s not something that scared me in any way, it just spurs you on and makes you want to perform well.”
The 24-team tournament, which begins tomorrow (Friday 25 March), offers more Series points than any of the other seven tournaments, with the Scots lining up against Tonga on Friday night, followed by Mexico (in their first appearance at the tournament) and, conversely, defending tournament and Series champions Samoa on Saturday, to complete Pool C.
Having stepped off the 12-hour flight from London on Sunday, the emphasis of the team’s preparation has gradually shifted from one of managing jet-lag and recovery to an increased intensity of training, followed by a hit-out against Australia at the So Kong Po training ground, in the shadow of the impressive Hong Kong Stadium itself.
Turnbull added: “First of all you just need to get the journey out of the legs, the first couple of days can usually be quite tough, you can pick up injuries if you go at it too hard but, as a squad of 12 you don’t get many opportunities to play against a full line of defence very often while it also presents the squad with real time problems that they would have to solve in a game.


“The contact area has become quite big in sevens nowadays so ruck is a lot more competitive so it’s good to experience that during the week and get used to what’s coming up against Tonga in our first match.
“Mexico, as is typical with most south American teams, will be pretty gritty. They’ll get stuck in and enjoy the contact area and will prove a tough obstacle but if we stick to our game plan and stick to our guns we can come out on top of that.
“Last up are the Series and Cup champions, who have that good south-sea island mix of power and pace which can make them hard to shut down.
“You have to be right on top of your game and not give them anything easy while getting something out of the game as well.”
Joint World Series leaders New Zealand and England top Pools A and B respectively: New Zealand will face France, Portugal and Korea, while England will play USA, Japan and China.
In Pool D USA Sevens runners-up Fiji are matched against Kenya, Russia and Malaysia.
Champions of Las Vegas, South Africa, will line up against Wales, hosts Hong Kong and Spain in Pool E and finally, sixth seeds Australia face seventh seeds Argentina, as well as Canada and Zimbabwe in Pool F.
After the famous sevens event Scotland will head for Australia where they will face current joint series leaders England, seventh placed Argentina and Commonwealth Games Bowl winners Papua New Guinea at the historic Adelaide Oval.
The eight-event HSBC Sevens World Series will take its unique brand of entertainment to the UK, first landing in London and then travelling north to Edinburgh for the Series finale at Murrayfield stadium on 28 and 29 May 2011.
Scotland squad for Hong Kong and Adelaide Sevens: Mike Adamson (Glasgow Hawks), Tom Bury (Boroughmuir), Graham Fisken (West of Scotland), Michael Fedo (Team Northumbria), Finlay Gillies (Glasgow Warriors elite development/Currie), Fraser Harkness (Selkirk), James Johnstone (Glasgow Warriors elite development/Currie), Jonny Macdonald (Cardiff University), Ross Miller (Glasgow Hawks), Ross Samson (Edinburgh Rugby), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh Rugby), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians)
2010/11 HSBC Sevens World Series schedule
Dubai, UAE – 3-4 December 2010
George, South Africa – 10-11 December 2010
Wellington, New Zealand – 4-5 February 2011
Las Vegas, USA – 12-13 February 2011
Hong Kong – 25-27 March 2011
Adelaide, Australia – 2-3 April 2011
London, England – 21-22 May 2011
EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND – 28-29 MAY 2011
FOR PLAYER PROFILES OF THE SCOTLAND 7s SQUAD PLEASE VISIT WWW.SCOTLANDRUGBYTEAM.ORG
         
Regular updates on Scotland’s progress will be posted on the Scottish Rugby web site at www.scottishrugby.org.
Two days, sixteen nations, 44 matches – one great weekend! For a fifth season the IRB Sevens World Series comes to Murrayfield with the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s being the eighth and final leg of a super season of international sevens. Scotland put in a stellar performance at the last event, bringing home the Plate after defeating some of the big hitters on the sevens circuit – Fiji, USA, Wales, South Africa and Argentina.  Samoa were the overall winners in Edinburgh, taking home the Ned Haig Cup, as well as the main IRB Sevens World Series trophy.
Tickets for this fast and furious festival of rugby are on sale now and are priced from ?5 for under-18s, ?10 for students and senior citizens and ?20 for adults. All tickets are ANY DAY tickets – valid for one day of your choice, either Saturday 28 May or Sunday 29 May.

This article was posted on 24-Mar-2011, 15:13 by Hugh Barrow.