Team Scotland Rugby 7s team have spent this week at the University of Stirling training hard ahead of their big weekend of competition at Ibrox Stadium on the 26th and 27th July.

The 12-man squad are raring to go, and to ensure they have some all-important match practice ahead of Glasgow 2014, they are off to London in the morning (Saturday) to take part in ‘Sevens and the City’ at Allianz Park. The one-day tournament will see them take on Germany, Wailers and Wales in the group stages before the move onto a cross-over match.

Training on the scenic pitches in Stirling today, the team were upbeat and training at high intensity with obvious enthusiasm ahead of the big event in just over two weeks time.

They took time out after training to speak to a hoard of media who joined the session to see the team in action and the afternoon was a well-deserved break with a trip into town on the cards for a few of the players.

The team return to Team Camp early next week before moving into the village for their final countdown.

Mark Bennett said: “This is completely different to our usual rugby competitions and training. Being around other teams and athletes and speaking to them about their training and plans, it’s really interesting. Having everyone together at Team Camp last weekend was great. I know a few of the other athletes but I am looking forward to getting to know a lot more.”

James Eddie: “There is a real feeling of the ’17 sports, 1 team’ now that we have had our Team Camp and are training at the preparation camp. I never thought I’d compete at a Commonwealth Games until the start of this year and now that it is here, I am really excited and proud to be part of Team Scotland. We really hope that our performance in Glasgow will raise the profile of rugby 7s even more and attract more fans to the sport. Sevens is a really exciting version of the sport so it will be exciting for everyone who comes to support us.” (James Eddie, Rugby 7s)

Colin Shaw: “Training has been going very well. It has been tough and very intense the last few days with Friday being a low-key session as we are traveling to London tomorrow. The incoming players have seamlessly slotted into the sevens game and as a squad we are very confident going into this weekend and into the games in Glasgow. Most of the squad have a good amount of sevens experience under their belt so that is also a big positive, including four of us who have experience to draw on from the previous Games in Delhi which is invaluable.”

Photo credit: Jeff Holmes