Alec Coombes has been named in John Dalziel’s Scotland 7s squad for the Australia and New Zealand legs of the World 7s Series.
The first leg in Australia is to be held in Sydney 26th-28th January before the team fly straight to New Zealand for the next leg in Hamilton the following weekend (3rd-4th February).
7s | John Dalziel has named his Scotland 7s squad to compete in the Sydney (26-28 January) and Hamilton (3-4 February) legs of the @WorldRugby7s series. #AsOne pic.twitter.com/NLRt1Cp8J6
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) January 18, 2018
Coombes has struggled to force his way into the London Scottish starting side this year under the new coaching regime, lead by Dave Morris. Last season he played twenty-two games for the Scots scoring two tries.
Coombes was invited up to train with the Scotland side by former London Scottish coach and now Head Coach of Scotland 7s, John Dalziel. He spoke very highly of Coombes earlier this week saying, “he’s been part of the Scottish age grade system and has been forging a career down in the English Championship with London Scottish…he’s really impressed during the last two weeks of training and now he gets a shot of going to compete (in the 7s series).”
Coombes also joins former London Scot Robbie Fergusson in the squad who played his first tournaments in the first two legs of this year’s World Series in Dubai and Cape Town.
Scott Riddell will captain the side in Sydney and will be playing in his sixtieth tournament. Scotland are joined by Canada, USA and hosts Australia in their group for this leg.
Scotland currently lie 13th in the World 7s Series standings after a disappointing start to the new campaign. They will be looking to kick off 2018 well down under and head into the tournament with Edinburgh players Glenn Bryce and Sean Kennedy both partnering Coombes in the squad.
Scotland 7s Squad for Australia and New Zealand legs: 1. Scott Riddell © 2. Harvey Elms 3. Hugh Blake 4. Glenn Bryce 5. Sean Kennedy 6. Jo Nayacavou 7. Jamie Farndale 8. Robbie Fergusson 9. Alec Coombes 10. Gavin Lowe 11. Max McFarland 12. Jack Cuthbert 13. Ross McCann
Read more about Coombes’s inclusion and the rest of the Scotland 7s squad HERE