Scottish Rugby has confirmed it will retain a full-time Scotland men’s sevens programme, with a seven-player contracted core preparing for the side’s first tournament appearance since 2022.
The programme will continue to be based at Oriam, Heriot-Watt University’s sports performance centre. Scottish Rugby also said it would oversee the men’s Great Britain Sevens team in SVNS 2 events during the season.
The announcement maintains a distinction between Scotland’s named contracted squad and the separate Great Britain operational role. Scotland, England and Wales combined for World Series competition in 2022 under World Rugby Olympic qualification requirements, and Scottish Rugby said Ciaran Beattie has led Great Britain Sevens since that arrangement began.
Beattie will run the Scotland programme, having previously served as Scotland Sevens head coach. Scottish Rugby said coaches from across its programmes would work with the contracted players and academy prospects.
Contracted group blends returnees and pathway players
Matt Davidson, Roan Frostwick and Jacob Henry return from the previous contracted group. They are joined by Ross McCann, Ben Salmon, Freddie Owsley and Lewis Wells.
The selected players have links across the Scottish development and professional structure. Davidson began at Ayr, played for Scotland Under-20s and Heriot’s in the Super Series, and has featured for Edinburgh Rugby, Scotland Sevens and more recently Great Britain Sevens. Frostwick came through Edinburgh Rugby’s academy and Watsonians, while Henry progressed through the Edinburgh academy system and represented Scotland Under-20s and Scotland Sevens at the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
McCann and Salmon have already been involved with the sevens set-up, including selection for the Hong Kong squad. Scottish Rugby said Salmon had been selected consistently across the year and is part of Glasgow Warriors’ Pro-Academy. McCann recently played for Edinburgh Rugby and made his Scotland debut against Canada in 2024.
Owsley and Wells were both members of the Scottish Thistles side which won at Melrose. Owsley has developed through Edinburgh and Scotland Sevens representation after moving from an athletics background, according to Scottish Rugby. Wells came through the Edinburgh Pro Academy, made four appearances for Edinburgh and had previously trained with the Scotland national team.
Seven academy prospects will attend selected Scotland Sevens sessions in accordance with their individual development plans. Ben McDonald, Dan Kelly, Hamish MacArthur, Harry Soboil and Sam Byrd are listed from Edinburgh Rugby, with Alex Brydon and Harry Provan from Glasgow Warriors.
Scottish Rugby’s head of performance pathways, Al Kellock, said that involving Edinburgh and Glasgow academy players supported alignment for both players and coaches, as well as leadership and skills development in a high-performance environment.
Nairobi provides the immediate return to competition
Scotland Sevens will play at the Safari Sevens in Nairobi from 9-11 October. Scottish Rugby said it will be the team’s first competitive outing since 2022, with club teams from Kenya, South Africa, France, England and America due to attend alongside the Zimbabwe and Zambia sevens teams.
Beattie said the group had been working for several weeks and that the Kenya tournament would give younger players experience alongside the programme’s more established core. He also pointed to increased alignment in the programme’s current form.
The union has presented sevens as a development route within its wider player pathway. It cited current Scotland internationals Darcy Graham, Matt Fagerson, Magnus Bradbury and Kyle Steyn as players who previously appeared for Scotland Sevens. Fagerson said his own involvement had helped develop skills and provided a valuable playing environment.
The retained full-time base, contracted group and academy involvement therefore give Scottish Rugby a defined domestic sevens structure ahead of Nairobi, while its responsibility for Great Britain’s men’s SVNS 2 operation remains a separate part of the season’s programme.