| Blair receives award as Scots look forward to London 7s |
| Friday, 21 May 2010 | ||
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Alex Blair, the 20-year-old Edinburgh Accies stand-off who is to join Edinburgh next season, last night collected the William Purves Quaich - an award that recognises outstanding young Scottish rugby players - and is now looking forward to his first taste of action on the IRB Sevens World Series. Blair, the youngest of three rugby-playing brothers (the others being Scotland international and British & Irish Lion, Mike, and Scotland 'A' cap David), is with the Scotland 7s team in London ahead of the penultimate leg of the World Series which finishes in Edinburgh next weekend. Having also been named in the Scotland 'A' squad for the defence of the IRB Nations Cup in Romania, Blair now faces a busy few months as he seeks to prove himself at international level. "There's been a lot happening for me over the last few months, I've been given a lot of opportunities, it's now up to me to take them." On receiving the quaich, he said: "It was a great honour to be awarded the William Purves Quaich, there have been quite a few well-known players to receive it in the past. "Finlay Calder was speaking at what was a great event so it was a real privilege to be given the award."
On more pressing matters, notably preparations for this weekend, he added: "We've been training hard all week. "It's obviously a pretty strong squad which I'm privileged to be a part of." The Scots took part in a practice "hit-out" training game yesterday (Thursday) against New Zealand, and Blair admits that the experience has given him a welcome jolt as to what he can expect over the coming days. "It was almost like a shock to the system, something that I've never experienced before. "There were different bursts of intensity but something I really enjoyed." Like those that chose to award Blair the William Purves Quaich last night, Scotland 7s coach Stephen Gemmell is excited about the young prospect. "I've seen what he can do in training. He has a great ability to get over the gainline and is deceptively quick. "I think if we can get him functioning at first receiver he'll either create space for himself or he'll create space for other people. "This weekend is a massive learning curve for Alex, not only when he's on the pitch, but when he's on the sideline watching other teams. "In this unique environment, he's had the chance to run out against New Zealand, now he's now got an opportunity over the next two days to play some high level rugby and get the chance to watch fifteen other world class teams." Meanwhile, Gemmell has also said that he feels his side have developed an "air of real confidence" over the past two weeks as they prepare for the forthcoming tournaments in which they reached back-to-back Cup semi-finals last year for the very first time. He said: "Things are going really well. There's an energy about the camp and an air of real confidence. "Everyone involved is looking forward to taking the field tomorrow." Part of that confidence has not only stemmed from the experienced members of the squad, but from the way in which they performed in training yesterday against the All Black 7s side. "As we said to the players, there are no medals given out on a Thursday. "What was encouraging was that all 12 players involved showed that we can perform the way we want to perform against one of the best teams in the world in New Zealand. "It's obviously going to be different on Saturday but if we can apply ourselves like we did yesterday then hopefully results will take care of themselves." The Scots will face Australia in their first match of the pool stages tomorrow before going onto play hosts England and finishing day one against Russia. Gemmell continued: "Australia have done really well this year. They've lost some players to the U20s, because that's their focus, but they've also brought back some experience. "When we were here last year, England got magnificent support. We played them in the semi-final and they beat us convincingly. That was credit to them as they went on and won the tournament." The role which the crowd play in the Edinburgh tournament has helped the Scots seal games in the past, and Gemmell is aware of the influence those at Twickenham can have when the auld rivalry is renewed for 14 minutes. "We have to control the seven players that are on the pitch and the crowd will do whatever they do - we just need to focus on the things that we can control." Commenting on the final match on day one against the Russians, Gemmell added: "I've seen Russia a lot this year. The Olympic decision has made a big difference to them - it's a real focus for them in terms of growing the game. "The squad they have is the same they've had all season so they've got that advantage over us. "What we will have is that by the time we play them, we will already have played two games - we should have knitted well as a unit." Scotland 7s squad to compete at the IRB Sevens World Series in London (22 & 23 May) and Edinburgh (29 & 30 May): Scott Forrest CAPTAIN*, Mike Adamson*, Alex Blair (Edinburgh Accies)**, Chris Fusaro (Heriot's)**, Roddy Grant (Edinburgh), Ally Hogg (Edinburgh), John Houston (Edinburgh), Lee Jones (Selkirk)**, Greig Laidlaw (Edinburgh), Mark Robertson (Edinburgh), Colin Shaw*, Andrew Turnbull (Edinburgh) * = Scotland 7s contracted player London & Edinburgh Pools & Fixtures Scotland's Pool D fixtures on day one of the Emirates Airline London 7s Pool C - Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Scotland's Pool C fixtures on day one of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is the eighth and final leg of the IRB Sevens World Series. It will be held at Murrayfield on 29 and 30 May 2010. Tickets are available to by logging onto www.edinburgh7s.com by calling the 24-hour Ticket Hotline - 0844 335 3933 or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre, Gate A, Roseburn Street, Edinburgh (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday). Ticket prices |
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