Scotland’s supporters are being challenged to outdo their Twickenham counterparts when the Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s festival takes the stage at Murrayfield this weekend, May 30-31.

The atmosphere in the stadium will ignite just after 12 noon on the opening day on Saturday as Scotland take the field to face the Auld Enemy in their opening Pool C match of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival.  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 purchase by logging onto www.scottishrugbytickets.com, by calling the Ticket Hotline on 0131 346 5100 (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday) or in person from the Murrayfield Ticket Centre (open 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday).

After a hard-fought final win over New Zealand at Twickenham in their own tournament, England are still in with a slim chance of clinching the IRB Sevens World Series title with a strong finish in the final leg.

Scotland will be hoping to improve upon their milestone achievement after they went out of the competition to England in Sunday’s Cup semi-final at Twickenham – the first time on the IRB circuit that Scotland had reached that knockout stage in a Cup competition.

Wins over USA and 2005/06 series winners, Fiji, were complemented by an inspired fight back against Portugal in the quarter-final, when Scotland overcame a 21 point first half deficit.

This weekend is likely to offer the same levels of excitement as teams from across the world arrived in Edinburgh today to the skirl of the bagpipes ahead of the glittering climax to the IRB World Series.

In its third year, the Edinburgh tournament has showcased some of the most exciting prospects in world rugby and this year is set to deliver another trail-blazing rugby menu.

Scotland Sevens Coach Stephen Gemmell, said:  “There are no easy games in this tournament. Every team has real ability and a competitive edge but Scotland especially have a real sense of belief coming into the weekend.

“We may be the inventors of the game of Sevens but that does not give us a God-given right to expect success. However, the experience we have gained this past weekend has really pulled the team together. It is now just a matter of fine-tuning before Saturday.” 

Having travelled around the world on the circuit, Gemmell knows exactly how much of an impact the home support can have on the outcome of a game:

“England’s victory yesterday was a prime example of how influential the crowd can be. When the game got tight, the home support rallied around their team”, said Gemmell.

“We need all the support we can muster this weekend and the home fans will really make the difference.”

Rugby fans will flock from around the world in support of the 16 teams on show. Today the teams were welcomed at Edinburgh Airport to the tune of the bagpipes.

Argentina 7s head coach, Duncan Forrest, said: “We love coming to Edinburgh, it's one of the best cities in the world, it's really beautiful, and we're playing at Murrayfield, a very well known stadium all over the world."

The USA team, coached by Al Caravelli, has not played 7s in Scotland since the World Cup 7s was held here back in 1993.

Caravelli said: "We're hugely looking forward to playing at Murrayfield, not one of our players has ever been to Scotland before.

"Murrayfield is steeped in tradition and we're looking to continue to teach these guys about the spirit of rugby in the home of 7s.

"Besides the rugby Edinburgh is a beautiful city so we're very much looking forward to the entire experience."

Edinburgh Pool C: Kenya, England, Canada, Scotland
 
Scotland 7s’ Pool C fixtures on day one (Saturday 30 May) of the Emirates Airline Edinburgh Sevens Festival: England v Scotland (kick-off 12.09pm), Kenya v Scotland (3.13pm), Canada v Scotland (6.56pm) Notes to editors:

Ticket prices
• Adult one day advance ticket - £15 (£20 on the day)
• Family one day advance ticket - £35 (two adults & two children) - £50 on the day
• Senior one day citizen - £10
• One day student and under-18 - £10 and £5

Emirates Airline Edinburgh 7s Festival broadcast schedule
A live ten-hour broadcast on day one begins at 9.30am, with coverage on a combination of Sky Sports 1, Sky Sports Xtra and via the interactive service (activated by pressing the red button). 
 
Saturday:  Red button (behind the Super 14 Final): 9.30am - 10.30am
Sky Sports 1: 1030am – 1.30pm
Sky Sports Extra: 1.30pm – 7.30pm

Sunday: Sky Sports 1: 10am – 1pm
Sky Sports 3: 1pm – 7.30pm

• 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 the last major event 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.
 
Event Scotland - www.eventscotland.org
• 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
A capital like no other
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.
• Edinburgh is a unique city, a vibrant city, a growing city, an evolving city. It’s a city that’s at the heart of Europe and the heart of a nation.

Our picture shows the French team on arrival at Edinburgh Airport.