Scotland Announce core squad for HSBC World Sevens Series return

30 Nov 2021

Scotland 7s Head Coach Ciaran Beattie has today announced the 12 players that will form the core Scotland 7s squad for when the HSBC World Sevens Series resumes in January 2022, in a year that will also see the Commonwealth Games and Rugby Sevens World Cup staged.

2014 Commonwealth Games squad member Lee Jones, who last featured for Scotland 7s in 2018 and has 25 events to his name, returns to the national fold, as do Tokyo Olympians Alec Coombes and Ross McCann.

Paddy Kelly and Jamie Farndale, who have been selected for Team GB for the ongoing Dubai HSBC World Sevens Series double-header, are also named as part of Beattie’s core group for next year.

Scotland are aided by the return of Gavin Lowe, who with 566 career points, sits fourth in the country’s list of all-time scorers.

Four more with previous Scotland 7s experience have been included in the shape of Femi Sofolarin, who will combine studying at Newcastle University with playing duties, and recent FOSROC Super6 players Harvey Elms (Watsonians), Kaleem Barreto (Boroughmuir Bears) and Callum Young (Heriot’s Rugby).

In addition, fellow FOSROC Super6 recruits Jordan Edmunds (Boroughmuir Bears) and Matt Davidson (Ayrshire Bulls) complete the 12-man core squad in what will be their first taste of international sevens rugby.

Head Coach Ciaran Beattie said: “It has been a long time coming, but to be able to name our Scotland 7s core squad for 2022 is something that everybody associated with the team is tremendously excited about.

“The HSBC World Sevens Series came to a halt in March 2020 and we have waited patiently to get to this stage, and we can’t wait to get going again. I am delighted with the quality we have throughout the core group, with a genuine mix of sevens experience and some raw talent with huge potential.”

“With both the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the Rugby 7s World Cup to come after that, it promises to be a special year in our sport and one that as a group we will embrace.”

Scotland had, since the start of 2021, been supplying players for Team GB for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and several HSBC World Sevens Series events.

The series was suspended on account of the Covid-19 global pandemic in March 2020, just as Scotland had recorded three consecutive wins over Argentina, Kenya and France to cap a memorable second day on the Vancouver leg of the 2019/20 campaign.

In the time since, the HSBC World Sevens Series had taken a hiatus, eventually resuming for the 2021/22 season, with Scots again forming part of a composite Team GB squad until the end of this calendar year.

Scotland 7s Core Squad for 2022
(HSBC World Sevens Series events for Scotland in brackets):

Kaleem Barreto (2)
Alec Coombes (16)
Matt Davidson (0)
Jordan Edmunds (0)
Harvey Elms (21)
Jamie Farndale (43)
Lee Jones (25)
Paddy Kelly (4)
Gavin Lowe (40)
Ross McCann (16)
Femi Sofolarin (3)
Callum Young (1)