Scotland’s most successful sevens coach, who also doubles as Scottish Rugby’s Academy manager, Stephen Gemmell was in Glasgow today at the launch of a new two year footwear partnership between the Academy and ASICS. The deal was unveiled at Greaves Sports by Gemmell, Academy and Scotland 7s players Jamie Hunter and Scott Forrest and Ryoji Sekito, ASICS UK Managing Director.Scotland’s most successful sevens coach, who also doubles as Scottish Rugby’s Academy manager, Stephen Gemmell was in Glasgow today at the launch of a new two year footwear partnership between the Academy and ASICS. The deal was unveiled at Greaves Sports by Gemmell, Academy and Scotland 7s players Jamie Hunter and Scott Forrest and Ryoji Sekito, ASICS UK Managing Director. ASICS will supply the Academy for match days and training with their revolutionary footwear specially designed for rugby. Gemmell welcomed the deal. He said: At this level of sport the little things make a big difference. By working with ASICS the players are getting the best footwear available so they can concentrate on improving their game and reaching the next level of their sport. Scotland’s sevens team also are aiming to hit that next level by reaching their tenth consecutive cup quarter-final in the fifth leg of the IRB World Sevens World Series in Hong Kong next month. Scotland have drawn Portugal, Kenya and China in their pool. Gemmell isn’t taking any of these teams lightly. Kenya were semi-finalists in San Diego and we’ve got quite a bit of experience playing against them. We drew with them in London last year and lost narrowly in Edinburgh and George, so we know both sides are a very close match. Portugal however were a core team last year and dropped out this year. They’ll certainly use Hong Kong as preparation for the World Cup Sevens in July. We aren’t so familiar with China, but we do know that they pose a serious threat given that they beat Canada last year and Canada are one of the core teams. They play Kenya on the Friday night so it’ll be a good opportunity to do a bit of last minute homework on them before we meet the following day. Many of Scotland 7s squad are players from Scottish Rugby’s National Academy the rest are professional players who supplement the squad when required. Scotland 7s’ Pool E fixtures on day one and day two of the IRB Hong Kong Sevens: Day 1 – Scotland 7s v Portugal, kick-off 7:32pm Day 2 – Scotland 7s v China, kick-off 10:52am Day 2 – Kenya v Scotland, kick-off 5:28pm All times are local. IRB Sevens World Series Dubai (UAE), 30 November-2 December George (South Africa), 7-8 December Wellington (New Zealand), 1-2 February San Diego (USA), 9-10 February Hong Kong (China), 28-30 March Adelaide (Australia), 5-6 April London (England), 24-25 May Edinburgh (Scotland), 31 May-1 June