HSBC World Sevens Series: Toulouse preview

Under the auspices of Head Coach Scott Forrest, Scotland are competing in the Women’s tournament as an invitational side in a year that will see them appear at a first Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in late July.

The squad contains a host of players who appeared the last time Scotland featured in a series event, in Biarritz in 2019.

Led by co-captains Helen Nelson and Lisa Thomson, they will face New Zealand, Canada and Spain in Pool B, with resulting fixtures to be decided based upon the pool stage.

All of the HSBC World Sevens Series games will be streamed live on the World Rugby YouTube channel, with timings for Scotland’s involvement as follows:

Scotland 7s Women

Pool B fixtures, Toulouse, all times BST:

Friday 20 May

New Zealand 7s v Scotland 7s, 8.52am

Canada 7s v Scotland 7s, 4.00pm

Saturday 21 May

Spain 7s v Scotland 7s, 8.30am

(Remaining matches on Saturday 21 May and Sunday 22 May determined by pool placings)

Ciaran Beattie’s Scotland Men will also play New Zealand, before games against Australia and USA as part of a mouth-watering Pool C fixture card. The squad welcomes back former captain Robbie Fergusson, as well as Grant Hughes and Lee Jones, as they look to build on some impressive performances – not least an excellent win over USA in Vancouver last month.

Toulouse is the seventh of nine legs on this season’s circuit, with Twickenham to follow on May 28-29 and then a delayed event in Los Angeles at the end of August – sandwiched by the Commonwealth Games and September’s Rugby World Cup Sevens in a truly action-packed year.

Scotland 7s Men

Pool C fixtures, Toulouse, all times BST:

Friday 20 May

New Zealand 7s v Scotland 7s, 11.44am

Australia 7s v Scotland 7s, 6.46pm

Saturday 21 May

Scotland 7s v USA 7s, 11.44am

(Remaining matches on Saturday 21 May and Sunday 22 May determined by pool placings)