Scotland 7s set for Dubai and Cape Town

Beattie has named Robbie Fergusson as captain for the 2019/20 Sevens Series which runs until the end of May, taking in 10 venues across five continents.

Those picked for Dubai and Cape Town include Scotland 7s debutants Scott Bickerstaff and Femi Sofolarin.

The rest of Scotland’s squad boast a combined total of 133 previous events on the circuit, with the experienced Gavin Lowe hoping to hit the 500-point mark in his 35^th tournament.

Edinburgh’s Dougie Fife is selected along with Jed-Forest’s Callum Young, who travels as 13^th man, as the only two players not part of the core group announced by Beattie in October.

Scotland will compete in Pool B of the Dubai event alongside last year’s finalists USA, Australia and Ireland, who are now core members of the series.

Head Coach Beattie believes his squad have prepared well for the start of this season’s series. He said: “The effort and application I’ve seen from this group so far has been exemplary.

“They have bought into the way we want to train and approach games, so it’s about putting into place our structures and expressing ourselves to the very best of our ability.”

Fergusson, who was co-captain last term, is proud to be leading the squad once more, adding: “It’s a huge honour to represent Scotland and being captain is something that I’m very proud of.

“We’re a tight-knit group that have trained hard over the past few months and we’re all excited to test ourselves against the most talented sevens players in the world.

“As a group, we want to show progression throughout the season, starting with these opening two tournaments in Dubai and Cape Town.”

Scotland 7s squad for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series events in Dubai and Cape Town:

1. Scott Bickerstaff (*)
2. Kyle Rowe (2)
3. Alec Coombes (10)
4. Robbie Ferguson © (19)
5. Harvey Elms (15)
6. Tom Brown (2)
7. Dougie Fife (16)
8. Femi Sofolarin (*)
9. Sam Pecqueur (10)
10. Gavin Lowe (34)
11. Max McFarland (20)
12. Ross McCann (11)
13. Callum Young (*)

*denotes uncapped

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Dubai Pool B fixtures, (The Sevens Stadium, Dubai, all times GMT) :

Thursday 5 December

Australia v Scotland (kick-off 1.50pm)

Friday 6 December

USA v Scotland (kick-off 8.20am)

Scotland v Ireland (kick-off 1.50pm)

Saturday 7 December

Fixtures dependent on Saturday’s pool matches.