Homecoming Hopes For Scotland 7s Coach

Scotland 7s head coach, Graham Shiel, has issued a rallying call to his players as the preparations begin for the first Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s at Scotstoun Stadium in a month’s time on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 May. Shiel said: “We need and want to work towards beating any team on the HSBC Sevens World Series circuit.  “It’s nice knowing we don’t need to depart for the next tournament via an airport. We have a period of time now where we can just prepare and get ready for our tournament on our home soil, and it would be great to have a capacity Glasgow crowd roaring us on.” Not having to travel to the next leg of the circuit gives the players the opportunity to focus completely on their coach’s challenge. They take on South Africa, Wales and Russia on day one of the eigth leg of the series. Shiel continued: “South Africa and Wales are two of the form teams on the circuit at the moment. We have played them both in the series so far and competed well, but we now need to take the next step and beat them. “Also Russia, we played them in Japan last weekend and we know what they are capable of. We are looking forward to the challenge all these teams will bring. Another benefit for the Scotland 7s management is that they can call on the services of a bigger group of players to be considered for the home tournament. Shiel concluded: “Being back in the UK we have a bit more depth to the squad we can select from, and look forward to considering our options over the coming weeks.”  Scotland are hosting the penultimate leg of the circuit at The Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s, which will take place at Scotstoun Stadium for the first time on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 May. Tickets for the tournament are on sale now from£15 per day. All concessions are at half the equivalent adult price. Tickets will be sold for particular stands and designated days, with two-day ‘weekend’ tickets also available. Click here to buy your tickets now.For more information on the tournament and for the latest news on Scotland 7s visit www.glasgow7s.com and follow us on Twitter @Glasgow7s. The Emirates Airline Glasgow 7s is part of the HSBC Sevens World Series.  The event, led by Scottish Rugby, is a partnership with Glasgow Life, Glasgow City Council, the Scottish Government and Event Scotland with the assistance of sportscotland and Glasgow City Marketing Bureau: The HSBC Sevens World Series is a globally recognised event featuring 16 international teams and visiting cities across the world. Glasgow joins the Gold Coast, Dubai, Port Elizabeth, Wellington, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and London in hosting the competition between 2012 and 2014. Scotstoun Stadium will host 30,000 fans over two days of competition in the penultimate leg of the series. Glasgow is the host city of the Commonwealth Games in 2014 and the IRB Series is a key part in creating a legacy for the games. Scottish Rugby works in partnership with sportscotland, the national agency for sport. In 2011, sportscotland invested a total of ?156,000 of National Lottery funding into Scottish Rugby’s 7s programme. sportscotland also supports Scottish Rugby 7s by providing high performance expertise through its institute network.