Scotland 7S Aim To Build On South African Success

Head coach Graham Shiel has added three new faces to his Scotland 7s squad as they target further improvements in the third and fourth legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington and Las Vegas, having lifted the Bowl in South Africa [pictured]. Dave McCall (wing) and Alex Dunbar (centre) have been selected from Glasgow Warriors while club stalwart Mark Cairns (brother of Scotland internationalist Ben Cairns) comes in from Currie for the tournament fortnight. Selection marks a recall to the abbreviated arena for the Warriors pair: McCall made his debut in the Dubai and South Africa tournaments in 2006/07 while Dunbar featured in the Hong Kong and Adelaide tournaments of 2008/09, aged 18. Head coach Graham Shiel has added three new faces to his Scotland 7s squad as they target further improvements in the third and fourth legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Wellington and Las Vegas, having lifted the Bowl in South Africa [pictured]. Dave McCall (wing) and Alex Dunbar (centre) have been selected from Glasgow Warriors while club stalwart Mark Cairns (brother of Scotland internationalist Ben Cairns) comes in from Currie for the tournament fortnight. Selection marks a recall to the abbreviated arena for the Warriors pair: McCall made his debut in the Dubai and South Africa tournaments in 2006/07 while Dunbar featured in the Hong Kong and Adelaide tournaments of 2008/09, aged 18. Cairns is the latest Premier 1 player to be called up by Shiel, who has already shown his willingness to work with the top performers from Scotland’s club game. Speaking on the new recruits, Shiel said: “Having reviewed our performance from the first two series I felt that a large portion of the team had earned an automatic recall. “That being said I think it’s important to offer different players the chance to prove they have something to offer the squad and allow me to create a larger pool of experienced sevens players who I can call upon. Dave [McCall] brings experience of sevens and professional rugby to the squad and, as a result, has a good understanding of the requirements and the demands of international sevens, while also being a very exciting and able young rugby player. “Alex Dunbar has come a long way since his debut and I think he could offer a huge amount to this squad. He has good skills and is a physical and powerful player. He should make an exciting contribution. “Mark [Cairns] has been training with the squad and this is an excellent opportunity to see what he can do on the World Series stage. He will bring aggression and hunger to our contact area, which is a big part of the sevens game. “The challenge for Mark is to match the efforts made by the likes of Graham Fisken in the previous legs and give me more selection headaches when we return.” Scotland enjoyed a positive return from the opening two events, returning home with the South Africa Sevens Bowl and four Series points, putting them in tenth place. Having established that success as a benchmark, Shiel now wishes to challenge the squad for cup qualification but refuses to take any team for granted in Wellington, where Scotland will face hosts (and cup holders) New Zealand, Argentina and Papua New Guinea on day one to confirm their placing in the knockout rounds. “The challenge for us is to pick up where we left off. It was good to lift the Bowl in South Africa but I’d like us to start targeting the quarter-finals which will be a huge achievement in itself in a tough pool. “They are more productive in terms of generating series points which we have to be mindful of.” After the third tournament in Wellington, the eight-event HSBC Sevens World Series will take its unique brand of entertainment to and Las Vegas, Hong Kong, Australia, England and Scotland, climaxing at Murrayfield on 28 and 29 May 2011. Scotland 7s squadMark Cairns (Currie), David Denton (Edinburgh Rugby/Hawick), Struan Dewar (Edinburgh Rugby elite development/Heriot’s), Alex Dunbar (Glasgow Warriors), Dave McCall (Glasgow Warriors), James Fleming (Glasgow Warriors/Dundee), Fraser Harkness (Selkirk), James Johnstone (Glasgow Warriors elite development/Currie), Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Ross Samson (Edinburgh Rugby), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians)* 12th squad member to be confirmed