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.”