Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 – Preview

Scotland embark on their Rugby World Cup Sevens campaign tomorrow, the event in South Africa running from 9-11 September at Cape Town Stadium. The tournament signals the end of an action-packed summer that included the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in July and a World Rugby Sevens Series leg in Los Angeles at the tail end of August.

This is the first Rugby World Cup to be held in South Africa since the iconic 1995 Men’s tournament, the legacy of which was home captain Francois Pienaar taking receipt of the Webb Ellis Trophy from the great Nelson Mandela – an image that transcended the moment.

The tournament gets underway tomorrow, with Scotland facing Jamaica in the Pre-Round of 16 stage at 8.51am, the winner then scheduled to face New Zealand in the Round of 16 at 3.01pm (times BST).

Further games on Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 September will be determined by results, and you can follow the action live on www.rwcsevens.com, with highlights of each day’s play to be shown in ITV4.

Head coach Ciaran Beattie says his squad are excited by the challenge ahead: “This is a tournament that only comes around once every four years and we can’t wait to get going tomorrow against Jamaica. The players have prepared well and worked hard to get to this point after a long season and we are determined to give it everything in Cape Town.”

Jamie Farndale will once more lead his country at what will be his second Rugby World Cup Sevens, having featured in San Francisco in 2018, a tournament Harvey Elms also played in. At the other end of the experience spectrum, Aaron Purewal is in line for his Scotland 7s debut in Cape Town as part of the 12-player selection.

Scotland 7s squad for Rugby World Cup Sevens in Cape Town, South Africa, 9-11 September 2022:

Jamie Farndale (captain)

Kaleem Barreto

Finn Callaghan

Reiss Cullen

Matt Davidson

Harvey Elms

Lee Jones

Paddy Kelly

Freddie Owsley

Aaron Purewal

Femi Sofolarin