Scotland 7s internationalists Andrew Easson and Jim Thompson – recently selected for the final rounds of the IRB Sevens World Series in London and Edinburgh – visited Meggetland today (15 May) for the penultimate round of the Edinburgh City State School 7s Series.

The School 7s series has been created to coincide with the international IRB event that climaxes at Murrayfield on 30 and 31 May.

Scotland 7s internationalists Andrew Easson and Jim Thompson pose with the IRB Ned Haig Cup

Eighteen Edinburgh schools have competed in a different age-specific leg each week, with today’s penultimate leg – the S1 and S2 tournament – taking place days before Easson and Thompson depart for the international equivalent in London.

Scotland 7s internationalist, Jim Thompson, said: “Using the IRB 7s as a springboard for this kind of tournament really helps the emerging schools – and there are a lot here in Edinburgh.

“All these school teams are very much in the early stages of development and are just getting into putting a structure in place for their rugby and because you only have to field seven players so it helps these kinds of schools – much like the IRB circuit has helped the developing nations like Kenya become a real force in international rugby.”

Just like the international elite event, points are allocated to each age group each week depending on their progress in the Cup, Bowl and Plate competitions until the series climax – which will take place the day before day one of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival (29 May) – where points are totaled up to decide the overall series winner.

Scottish Rugby’s Edinburgh City development officer and School 7s organiser, Ruaridh Pye, said: “We started off at under-18 level and each week since then we have run our own series through under-16, S1, S2 and S3.

“We’ve tried to target every age group so everybody gets a chance to play with the emphasis on both performance and participation coming through the fact that, in order to win the entire series, a school would really need to be challenging at all levels in the competition.”

Participating Edinburgh schools:
Firhill High School, Liberton High School, Gracemount High School, Portobello High School, Boroughmuir High School, Royal High School, Balerno High School, Trinity Academy, Craigmount High School, Craigroyston Community High School, Tynecastle High School, Forrester High School, Queensferry High School, St Thomas Aquins, James Gillespie’s High School, Broughton High School, Currie Community High School, Leith Academy

• The Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival 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 for each day of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival - priced at £15 for adults, £10 for students and senior citizens and £5 for under 18s – are available to by logging onto www.scottishrugbytickets.com by calling the Ticket Hotline on 0871 200 1511 (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday) or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre, Roseburn Street, Edinburgh (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).
• Rugby Sevens will be one of the showpiece events of the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.
 
The Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s is just one of four major events happening at Murrayfield, the home of Scottish Rugby, in May
• Saturday 2 and Sunday 3 May: Rugby League’s Magic Weekend
• Sunday 10 May: Scottish Hydro Electric Cup Finals Day
• Saturday 23 May: The Heineken Cup Final
• Saturday 30 and Sunday 31: Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival

Scottish Rugby has worked extensively with event partners Event Scotland, Visit Scotland and the City of Edinburgh Council, to fully promote the world-class events coming to Murrayfield to ensure that everybody attending is fully aware of what Edinburgh as a city has to offer both the resident and the visitor.
 
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• EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors.

Visit Scotland – www.visitscotland.com
• VisitScotland is Scotland’s national tourism organisation. Its core purpose is to maximise the economic benefit of tourism to Scotland.
• The organisation has three key roles:
1. To market Scotland to all parts of the world to attract visitors
2. To provide information – and inspiration – to visitors and potential visitors so they get the best out of a visit to Scotland
3. To provide quality assurance to visitors and quality advice to the industry and partners to help the industry meet and strive to exceed customer expectations

City of Edinburgh Council - www.edinburgh.gov.uk
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450,000 people. One city. Countless opportunities.
• Edinburgh is known across the world as Scotland’s festival capital, business capital, and culture capital. The city is home to the Scottish Parliament and some of the most iconic landmarks on the planet. Nearly half a million people call the city home, and we serve each and every one of them, making sure the city is a great place to live, work and enjoy.
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