Farndale to lead Scotland in HSBC World Sevens Series resumption

Jamie Farndale will lead Scotland 7s as they return to HSBC World Sevens Series action with tournaments in Malaga (January 21-23) and Seville (28-30) later this month.

Head Coach Ciaran Beattie has named the experienced Farndale as national captain in a year that will also see Scotland compete at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2022 Rugby Sevens World Cup.

Having supplied a number of players to compete as part of Team GB over the course of 2021, due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, Scotland are set to once more compete on the HSBC World Sevens Series circuit, with January’s Spanish double-header marking the team’s competitive return.

Farndale will lead a 13-player squad containing some experienced names in the form of Olympian Ross McCann, Gavin Lowe, Harvey Elms, Paddy Kelly and Lee Jones, who returns to the Scotland 7s set-up for the first time since 2018.

There are a number of players set to make their Scotland 7s debuts in Spain, with core squad members Matt Davidson and Jordan Edmunds, as well as Kaleem Barreto (two previous World Series events) joined by FOSROC Academy players Jacob Henry (Edinburgh Rugby) and Finn Callaghan (Glasgow Warriors). Grant Hughes and Reiss Cullen, who featured for Stirling County and Watsonians respectively in the recent FOSROC Super6, are also called up to Beattie’s squad after impressing as part of a wider training group.

Scotland have been drawn in Pool A of the Malaga leg, alongside South Africa, England and Fiji, with results at that event determining the make-up of Seville a week later.

Scotland 7s Head Coach Beattie said: “Having named our core squad in December, we are thrilled to be sending a group of players to Malaga and Seville to start such an important year for Scotland 7s.

“We have worked extremely hard over the past few weeks in preparation for these first legs of 2022, in the knowledge that the series will be as competitive as ever.”

Scotland 7s captain Jamie Farndale added: “It’s a huge honour to have been named as captain for our return to the HSBC World Sevens Series and having worked with this group of players since we came into camp in December, I am excited to see how we progress in 2022.”

Scotland 7s squad for HSBC World Sevens Series events in Malaga and Seville (Scotland 7s events in brackets):

Kaleem Barreto (2)

Finn Callaghan (0)*

Reiss Cullen (0)

Matt Davidson (0)

Jordan Edmunds (0)

Harvey Elms (21)

Jamie Farndale (43) Captain

Jacob Henry (0)*

Grant Hughes (0)

Lee Jones (25)

Paddy Kelly (4)

Gavin Lowe (40)