Scotland Add Class For World Series Finale

Scotland have added two proven international sevens players to their squad ahead of the HSBC Sevens World Series finale at Murrayfield this weekend. The inclusion of Colin Gregor and Jim Thompson is the only change to the side that lifted the Emirates Airline London 7s Bowl at Twickenham two days ago, as the Scots prepare to take on Samoa, Fiji and USA on day one (Saturday). Scotland 7’s top points scorer, Gregor, who captained the team to Rugby World Cup Sevens Plate victory in 2009, is a sevens internationalist of world-class repute while Thompson made his name on the world stage in 2008 and 2009 before becoming a regular at Edinburgh and being involved in Scotland’s historic tour to Argentina last summer, adding more power to his game along the way. Scotland 7s head coach Graham Shiel, said: “Colin [Gregor] and Jim [Thompson] bring a lot of experience in their ability to play the game of seven-a-side rugby. It’s nice to be able to call upon such experienced players to supplement the squad. “Both have an ability to attack and challenge defences with ball in hand, they’re excellent decision makers and have great vision and distribution skills, so bring other players into the game which is a real strength. “They’re great characters off the pitch and inject a lot of enthusiasm and energy into the squad and will fit in very well and very easily.” The London leg of the World Series offered up some tantalising signs of Scotland’s potential where they were edged out by Series champions Samoa (19-15) and Cup holders, Australia (24-21), before putting in three successive day two wins over Portugal, Spain and Kenya to lift the Bowl. Last season the Scots performed heroics on home soil, beating two of this year’s pool opponents (Fiji and USA) alongside Wales, South Africa and Argentina to win the Plate in front of an adoring Murrayfield crowd. Reflecting on glories past, Shiel added: “There are a lot of positives to take from the weekend; the guys feel good, it’s nice to win and bring something back having put some good performances together that we can build upon. “Now we look forward to this weekend and how we can build on that performance and how we can become more threatening and challenge teams like Fiji, Samoa and USA and not just be competitive but push forward for victory and a place in the Cup quarter-final. “It’s a huge positive for Scottish Rugby to be hosting this event and it’s great to be the home team. “There’s nothing more sure than a Scottish crowd being vocal and supporting of their home nation which is brilliant and something that the players all look forward to. “The crowd will be really important for us. The players love it, they enjoy the experience and they enjoy the buzz they get from the support of a big crowd so it would be lovely to see that level of support at Murrayfield again this weekend.” Tickets for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens on 28 & 29 May are available from www.edinburgh7s.com and are priced from£5 for under-18s,£10 for students and senior citizens,£20 for adults and£40 for a family of four. All tickets are any day tickets – valid on Saturday 28 May or Sunday 29 May. AND if an adult buys a ticket for one of the EMC August Tests in August (priced from£10) they can get ticket for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s for half price – just£10 per day! SCOTLAND SEVENS SQUAD FOR THE EMIRATES AIRLINE EDINBURGH SEVENS, Murrayfield, Saturday/Sunday 28/29 May: Tom Brown (Edinburgh), Struan Dewar (Edinburgh elite development player), Michael Fedo (Team Northumbria), Colin Gregor (Glasgow Warriors), Peter Horne (Glasgow Warriors), Lee Jones (Edinburgh), Stuart McInally (Edinburgh), Scott Newlands (Edinburgh), Scott Riddell (Stewart’s Melville), Andrew Skeen (Watsonians), Jim Thompson (Edinburgh), Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh)