Scottish Rugby to drive forward new sevens programme

Scottish Rugby will now run a full-time Scotland men’s sevens programme and take charge of the oversight of the men’s and women’s Great Britain Sevens teams ahead of World Series events. The programme will be run by Ciaran Beattie who was previously head coach of Scotland Sevens and has led Great Britain Sevens since Scotland, England and Wales combined to compete on the World Series due to mandated World Rugby Olympic qualification requirements in 2022.

The men’s sevens programme will operate full-time from Oriam, Scotland’s sports performance centre at Heriot Watt University, with a small group of core Scottish contracted sevens players. They will be complemented by a selection of other players from Glasgow Warriors and Edinburgh Rugby’s professional academies as well as players selected from the National Talent Pathway which works with players under the age of 20. Players from club sides around Scotland will also be given opportunities to be considered.

The GB women’s sevens programme will operate predominantly out of England and Wales with players from all three countries able to be nominated for selection whilst aligning to their own performance pathway programmes.

There are six contracted Scottish players as the men’s programme begins including Scotland internationalist Damien Hoyland who joins after playing in the MLR for Old Glory DC. Hoyland made his Scotland debut in 2015, previously playing for Edinburgh Rugby and is also a stalwart of the sevens game.

Finn Callaghan is also selected, who came through the Glasgow Warriors Academy and played for Scotland in the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens before also featuring for Great Britain Sevens.

Matt Davidson began his rugby with Ayr before featuring for Scotland U20 and standing out for Heriot’s in the Super Series. He has also played for Edinburgh Rugby, making his debut in 2023. He has been capped by Scotland Sevens and been involved in the Great Britain Sevens programme recently.

25-year-old Roan Frostwick is a product of Edinburgh Rugby’s Academy, playing for the capital club, Watsonians in the Super Series as well as Great Britain Sevens.

Jacob Henry has come through the Scottish pathway system having played for Scotland U20s, Edinburgh Academy and Scotland Sevens, in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Josh Radcliffe is a 22-year-old Australian born sevens player who qualifies for Scotland through his father. He has recently been playing in New Zealand for the University of Waikato Rugby Club and New Zealand Universities.

Ahead of HSBC SVNS World Series events, players from Wales and England will also be available for Great Britain Sevens selection.

The Scotland squad will visit Malaga for an international preparation tournament later in October where they will compete with other nations including France, Spain and Germany.

Ciaran Beattie will then lead Great Britain Sevens for the HSBC SVNS World Series which will kick-off on 29-30 November in Dubai.

Joining Scottish Rugby in the management team are Sara Davies as Great Britain 7s Team Manager, Matt Stagg as Great Britain 7s Strength and Conditioning Coach and Rob Smithson as Great Britain 7s physio.

Sara was Team Services and Operations Manager with Great Britain 7s last season and has experiences in Team Management roles at Scarlets Rugby, Wales Men U20 and Newport Gwent Dragons.

Matt was also with Great Britain 7s during the 2024-2025 season as S&C Coach and has also worked with Leicester Tigers and Rugby Australia.

Rob Smithson has also been appointed as physio, joining from Edinburgh Rugby having previously worked with the women’s national team and at Gloucester Rugby.

Scotland Sevens Contracted Players:

Finn Callaghan
Matt Davidson
Roan Frostwick
Jacob Henry
Damien Hoyland
Josh Radcliffe

Scottish Rugby Performance Director David Nucifora said: “Following the recent roll-out of the new high-performance pathway plans we are determined to give our best young players regular opportunities to test themselves.

“The Sevens World Series is an excellent opportunity to expose our players to international rugby and better prepare them for the demands of professional rugby.

“The new model allows us to develop young Scottish players in a full-time training environment prior to exposing them to the world stage by competing for Great Britain.

“Ciaran Beattie is vastly experienced in sevens and will be able to drive the programme forward.”

Great Britain Sevens Director of Rugby Ciaran Beattie said: “In the new set-up we will have Great Britain men’s and women’s sevens teams that will be tournament based and will involve Scottish, English and Welsh players.

“In between that, as part of the new high-performance player pathway programme we will have a full-time Scotland men’s sevens programme which will allow us to develop and stretch a group of promising young players. These guys will also be available for selection for Great Britain Sevens.

“We are looking to grow our young players and competing on the world stage for Great Britain is a great opportunity. The series weekends are always unbelievable events.

“Having a cohort of Scottish men’s players training regularly together will really help progress the new Great Britain Sevens model and allow us to work with the best Welsh and English players where we aim to perform well on the world stage.

“We have a good selection of core players that will provide continuity but we also have a great opportunity to give a number of other promising players the chance to train and compete at a high level, which will accelerate their development.”