Settled 7s squad named for New Zealand

Alec Coombes travelling as thirteenth man is the only change to the squad that competed in the opening two rounds where Scotland reached consecutive quarter-finals.

Prop/wing Coombes has recovered from a hamstring injury to be available for involvement for the first time on the 2018/19 series.

Scotland have been drawn in Pool C with France, Kenya and reigning champions South Africa in New Zealand.

Scotland 7s Head Coach, John Dalziel, said: “Training has gone well and we have an almost full squad to pick from, which is great credit to our support staff and the conditioning of the players.

“We are starting to get a settled group with some key relationships starting to form and hope that consistency in selection will drive more consistency in our delivery.

“We are also building real competition for places and our players are now catching the eye of the pro team coaches. It’s testament to the programme that we can select this this group of players and also support the pro sides during international windows.

“All three teams in our pool possess major threats across the board but are all very different in their tactical approach.

“It’s important to narrow that focus and concentrate on one game at a time and, although we have previewed and prepped very well for all three teams, our sole focus is now on game one against a very potent French side in a match where both teams will be eager to start well.”

Scotland 7s squad to compete at the third leg of the 2018/19 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in Hamilton, live on Sky Sports (World Series tournaments in brackets)

1. Scott Riddell (69)

2. Nyle Godsmark (20)

3. Kyle Steyn (4)

4. Robbie Fergusson (CC) (11)

5. Harvey Elms (9)

6. Glenn Bryce (18)

7. Jamie Farndale (CC) (33)

8. Jo Nayacavou (38)

9. Sam Pecqueur (3)

10. Gavin Lowe (26)

11. Max McFarland (12)

12. Ross McCann (4)

13. Alec Coombes (4)

Scotland 7s fixtures in Hamilton (25 – 27 January, kick-off times in GMT)

Friday 25 January

Scotland 7s v France 7s (9pm)

Saturday 26 January

Scotland 7s v Kenya 7s (0.48am)

Scotland 7s v South Africa 7s (5.22am)

Day two fixtures TBC