MARR winger Scott Bickerstaff and English convert Femi Sofolarin are set to make their Scotland 7s debut in Dubai this weekend. Jed-Forest’s Callum Young could also make his first appearance on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series circuit as he will travel with the squad as 13th man.
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.
“The effort and application I’ve seen from this group so far has been exemplary,” said head coach Ciaran Beattie. “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.”
Scotland 7s poach back Femi Sofolarin from under England’s noses
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Robbie Fergusson will captain the side. “It’s a huge honour to represent Scotland and being captain is something that I’m very proud of,” he said. “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.”
Dougie Fife, who has been released by Edinburgh, and Young are the only members of the group who are not core members of the Scotland 7s core squad.
Scotland 7s squad for HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series events in Dubai (5th-7th December) and Cape Town (13th-15th Decmber): Scott Bickerstaff (debutant), Kyle Rowe (2 caps), Alec Coombes (10 caps), Robbie Ferguson© (19 caps), Harvey Elms (15), Tom Brown (2), Dougie Fife (16), Femi Sofolarin (debutant), Sam Pecqueur (10 caps), Gavin Lowe (34 caps), Max McFarland (20 caps), Ross McCann (11 caps).
13th man: Callum Young (no caps)