Fifty for Farndale in Los Angeles

Against the backdrop of Hollywood’s glitz and glamour, one of Scotland’s own stars is set to represent his country at a landmark 50th event on the circuit, becoming only the fifth man to achieve such distinction.

Jamie Farndale, captain of Scotland 7s, will run out at Los Angeles’ Dignity Health Sports Park to mark a half-century of HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series events, following in the footsteps of Scott Riddell (74 tournaments), Colin Gregor (58), Andrew Turnbull and Scott Riddell (both 57).

It was 2015 when Farndale took to the pitch as an international sevens player at the Twickenham leg of that season’s series and in the time since, he’s notched up no fewer than 126 tries – second only in the Scottish all-time list to Turnbull (151).

The 2022 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series draws to a close this weekend, as the game’s finest exponents line up in California for a tournament that was rescheduled from March due to concerns around the global pandemic.

Following a mandate from World Rugby, whereby Scotland, England and Wales will be replaced on the circuit by Team GB in line with Olympic Games qualification, this weekend’s event will be the final one of its kind.

It will be a tournament that Scotland, drawn in Pool D alongside England, Samoa and Kenya, will relish according to their skipper: “It’s about celebrating Scotland 7s and all it’s been this season. We had a really emotional night before the Commonwealth Games, it was one of the most special things I’ve been involved in. We stood in a circle and Beatso [head coach Ciaran Beattie] got us all to speak in turn about our journey.

“It was a moment I’ll take with me throughout my life and it showed exactly what it all means to us.”

Taking a moment to reflect on the stellar individual achievement of reaching 50 series events, Jamie is grateful for the experiences a sevens life has afforded him: “When you start off it’s all energy and excitement and you perhaps don’t take it in as much, but by the time you reach where I am, I think you realise just how special these moments are and how privileged I’ve been to have felt the things I’ve felt and meet the people I’ve met.

“I missed four events when I was in with Edinburgh, back when Beatso came in, but other than those, I’ve managed to not miss one. I’ve always been praised in my career by S&C coaches for robustness and it’s a bit of a running joke that I’ve never seen a physio! I don’t take that for granted though and in a leadership position, I try to make sure I’m out there warming up, stretching, doing the behaviours away from the game to be ready.

“If you get everything right away from the pitch then you can go and enjoy yourself on it and concentrate on the game itself knowing you’ve done all you can.”

If there’s anyone as passionate about the game of sevens as Jamie, then head coach Ciaran Beattie would quite probably be the first name to come to mind: “That’s exactly it, from the moment you meet Beatso”, adds Jamie.

“What he does really well is not overlooking anyone in the squad, everyone has a role to play pushing towards the goal of us being the best we can be. His passion and love for sevens is so infectious, which fits well with me, and he doesn’t hide it. I think we feed off each other. It’s been such a great relationship and he’s a phenomenal coach.”

How dearly Beattie and Farndale, on the occasion of his 50^th series event for Scotland, would love to sign off the 2022 campaign with a blockbuster weekend in Los Angeles.