With just over three weeks to go until the Scotland 7s squad open their 2011/12 HSBC Sevens World Series campaign on the Gold Coast, Australia they jet off to Elche in Spain to play in a northern hemisphere invitational tournament.
The squad of 12 players, including nine of the 13 full time players to have pledged their allegiances to the abbreviated game, will take on England, Wales, France and Portugal at Estadio Mart?nez Valero tomorrow (1 November) in the tournament and in their first matches as a full-time outfit.
Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, said: “This tournament provides an opportunity for us to compete against teams we will face in the HSBC Sevens World Series and it will be beneficial for us to be able to measure exactly where we are.
“The main aim for this tournament is to see where the team are physically and to see how accurate their skills are under pressure and when fatigue kicks in. In the last few weeks we have put a lot of focus on improving the basics.
“We also have a good amount of time to return take stock of our performances and refocus for the opening leg of the series on the Gold Coast.”
With Struan Dewar, Peter Horne and Hamish Watson missing out through injury, Michael Fedo, Mark Cairns and Ross Miller step in.
Shiel continued: “It's also a fantastic opportunity for the young players because for a number of them it will be their first time travelling and playing for Scotland 7s.
“It’s a huge opportunity and honour for them and I'm looking forward to seeing how they deal with the big step up.
“Also for the more experienced players this will allow them to make an early transition from XVs to 7s and the earlier we do that in the season the better it will be for us.”
The squad to travel to the tournament in Elche is as follows:
Colin Gregor - Glasgow Warriors
James Eddie - Glasgow Warriors
Michael Fedo - Northumbria University
*Rory Hughes - Glasgow Warriors
*Adam Ashe - Glasgow Warriors
**Mark Cairns - Currie
*Sean Kennedy - Glasgow Warriors
*Sam Hidalgo Clyne - Edinburgh Rugby
**Ross Miller – Glasgow Hawks
*Kerr Gossman - Edinburgh Rugby
James Fleming - Edinburgh Rugby
Andrew Turnbull - Edinburgh Rugby
*Scottish Rugby Elite Development Player - Sevens
**Member of Sportscotland Institute of Sport

This article was posted on 31-Oct-2011, 18:36 by Hugh Barrow.