Scotland will face England during the pool stages of the penultimate IRB World Series 7s tournament at Twickenham next month, as a precursor to the series finale at Murrayfield at the end of May.

Stephen Gemmell’s team are also drawn alongside Australia and Russia for the Emirates Airline London Sevens on May 22-23. Last year in the same event Scotland reached their first Cup semi-final, where, they were edged out by . . . England.

Gemmell said this afternoon: “It’s an exciting group.  Australia are going really well this season.  They have some emerging young talent coming through and appear to be on the up.

“When we play England in any format we need to ensure our focus is on our performance and our game rather than any other factors.  England have a good balance to their squad with pace aplenty and an abundance of power up front but we showed in the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s last year that when we play our game successfully we can take them on.

“Russia have played more tournaments this year and drew with Australia in South Africa.  The Russians always present a very physical opposition and since the decision to admit 7s into the Olympics they have increased the emphasis on their involvement.”

The Scotland squad for the London tournament will be announced early next month.

Saturday 22 May
Emirates Airline London 7s

Scotland v Australia, 12.42pm
Scotland v England, 4.10pm
Scotland v Russia, 6pm

Tickets are on sale now for the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival at Murrayfield on Saturday 29 and Sunday 30 May. For more information please log on to www.edinburgh7s.com