Forrest aiming for a Grand Prix finish

After a challenging first outing in Brive earlier this month, Scotland Women 7s regroup for their second and final tournament this weekend at the FIRA Grand Prix Series in Marbella, which will close the squad’s five-week season together. There are no changes in selection to the squad from the group who competed in the opening event (1/2 June). Head coach Scott Forrest says: Being able to select the same squad gives us consistency and allows us to build on Brive. With just one weekend to train between tournaments we’ve been pretty realistic in what we could achieve, especially as a few of the players were unavailable, but the girls have worked hard. Structure was a big part of the five sessions we had over Saturday and Sunday. We also managed to include a run-out against a men’s team which worked out well and tested our pace. Scotland’s first opponents on day one are Ireland, a team they know well and last played in Brive, followed by Germany, Portugal, France and England. Forrest stresses that the emphasis this weekend will be on performance improvement and adds: Probably our best performance there [Brive] was against Ireland. We started well against Portugal, last time we played, and we could have got a result; Germany are very physical, France have a lot of class and having England, who lead the Series, as our last pool opponents will be tough. There are no easy games. Games and teams – 15 June – Pool A (times BST)Ireland v Scotland (k/o 12.04) Germany v Scotland (k/o 14.36) Portugal v Scotland (k/o 17.08) France v Scotland (k/o 20.24) Game and team – 16 June – Pool A (time BST) England v Scotland (k/o 12.50) Scotland’s next games will be determined by the results of these pool matches Scotland Women 7s squad in FIRA Grand Prix Series, Marbella, 15/16 June 2013 1. Lindsay Wheeler (Richmond) 2. Tess Forsberg (Richmond) 3. Lyndsay O’Donnell (Worcester) 4. Kelly Shields (Murrayfield Wanderers) 5. Megan Gaffney (Hillhead/Jordanhill) 6. Katy Green (Darlington Mowden Sharks) 7. Ruth Slaven (Murrayfield Wanderers)8. Sarah Law (Murrayfield Wanderers) 9. Annabel Sergeant (Richmond) 10. Steph Johnston (RHC Cougars) 11. Jennifer Maxwell (Leeds Met University) 12. Sarah Smith (Hillhead Jordanhill) Player and management biographies Scotland entered the two-match series in 11th position and after the Brive event sit in 12th place. Scotland must finish tenth or higher at the end of this weekend’s tournament in order to retain their Grand Prix status and their final placing will give their ranking for 2014.