Beattie names squad for Singapore and Vancouver

Head Coach Ciaran Beattie has named his Scotland 7s squad for the upcoming HSBC World Sevens Series events in Singapore and Vancouver, with core players Alec Coombes and Femi Sofolarin returning for the first time this season.

Edinburgh Rugby’s Harry Paterson, who has featured in the FOSROC Super6 for Heriot’s Rugby, is in line to make his Scotland 7s debut in Singapore (April 9 and 10) before the squad travel to Vancouver (April 16 and 17).

Jamie Farndale will once again lead his country ahead of a landmark 50^th event on the series, having appeared in 45 for Scotland and a further four times for Team GB.

Kaleem Barreto is named as vice-captain for the first time, while Lee Jones (knee) and Gavin Lowe (shoulder) miss out through injury.

After some encouraging performances in January’s Spanish double-header in Malaga and Seville, attentions turn to the next events on this season’s circuit, with Beattie’s charges drawn in Pool C alongside Argentina, Wales and New Zealand at Singapore’s National Stadium.

In the lead-up to these events, Scotland enjoyed live training matches against both Wales and England as part of the preparation between events in Spain at the end of January and Singapore.

Beattie said: “We have had to wait a while since competing in Spain, so it’s great to have these two events to test ourselves and try to improve on some of the good things we showed in January.

“As well as welcoming another debutant to the squad in Harry Paterson, we are pleased to be able to draw upon the talents of Alec Coombes, who was an Olympian last year, and Femi Sofolarin, who looked great when he featured last season.

“Each opponent in the HSBC World Sevens Series presents a challenge and we will need to bring some of our best rugby in order to compete over the two-week stretch.”

Scotland 7s squad for HSBC World Sevens Series events in Singapore (April 9 and 10) and Vancouver (16 and 17 April) – Scotland 7s events in brackets:

Jamie Farndale (45) (Captain)

Kaleem Barreto (4) (Vice-captain)

Alec Coombes (16)

Reiss Cullen (2)

Matt Davidson (2)

Jordan Edmunds (2)

Harvey Elms (23)

Jacob Henry (2)*

Grant Hughes (2)

Paddy Kelly (6)

Ross McCann (18)

Harry Paterson (0)*