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TASTY CROSS-BORDER ENCOUNTER FOR SCOTS |
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The Scotland 7s team will face England in the IRB Sevens World Series, five weeks before the senior national team take on their cross-border rivals in the RBS 6 Nations. The Scots will also meet Samoa, who have finished third in the World Series over the past two seasons, and Japan who are this year’s top Asian qualifiers. It's a reflection on how farthe IRB Sevens World Series has come that we, as a third-tier nation, get a draw like that," said Scotland 7s' coach, Stephen Gemmell. Although the draw is one of the toughest at the tournament, the tastiest encounter for rugby fans must be Scotland’s clash with the Auld Enemy.
“Playing against England is something never to shy away from,” added Gemmell, “and it's good for us that we have the chance to face them before the senior team comes up against them in the Six Nations. England have real pace and power and have seen improvement since they changed their programme and that’s credit to Ben Ryan, their coach.”As for their other opponents, Scotland will have a physical Samoan side and a competitive Japanese side to contend with. “Samoa are one of the teams, other than New Zealand, to win a tournament last year and they’ll be out to prove their performances in Dubai and South Africa were not good enough. Traditionally we’ve always had competitive games against them and we’ll certainly need to be at the top of our game.“As for Japan, they’re the strongest of the bottom seeds and are the top Asian qualifier. They missed out in the quarter-finals in Adelaide with a try in the last minute against Samoa so it’s quite evident that all three teams will give us different challenges.” It’s just 50 days to go now until the Rugby World Cup Sevens kicks-off in Dubai, and Gemmell also confirms that the next two tournaments are vital in Scotland’s preparation. The Scotland 7s squad to compete at the IRB Sevens events in Wellington and San Diego will be announced later this month Pool C – England, Samoa, Scotland, Japan: Scotland 7s’ fixtures on day one (Sat 14 February) of the IRB USA Sevens: 10:02am – England v Scotland; 1:16pm – Samoa v Scotland; 3:42pm – Scotland v Japan (All times are local. San Diego is 8 hours behind GMT). The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is the eighth and final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. It will be held at Murrayfield on 30 and 31 May 2009. Tickets sales information will be announced shortly - log on to www.edinburgh7s.com for more information |
