Glasgow move mooted to boost 7s

WITH the fanfare over rugby sevens' historic acceptance to the Olympic Games subsiding, the International Rugby Board are working with the SRU to ensure the sport is not a major turn-off at Glasgow's Commonwealth Games in 2014.

The IRB sees the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a potential catalyst for rugby becoming truly global, and are working to promote sevens tournaments to the world's media and governments in the US, China and Russia. But the reality of staging the Commonwealth Games sevens at Rangers' Ibrox Stadium is beginning to hit home, the fear being it could attract paltry crowds to the 51,000-seater stadium and affect the worldwide sales pitch.

Behind-the-scenes discussions have included the idea of shifting the Emirates Edinburgh Sevens being played for a fourth year at Murrayfield this weekend, to Glasgow's Scotstoun Stadium in an effort to awaken the city to the attraction of sevens and build fresh interest.

Aware of the risks to an event that is already a financial drain, the SRU insisted yesterday that there were no firm plans to move and it was only one suggestion to improve the appeal of the tournament.

The Scotsman revealed that Scotland was dropped from the initial IRB world series schedule for the next four years but it is understood Scotland is included, the SRU having garnered support from First Minister Alex Salmond and leading sports figures.

The full schedule is not now expected to be confirmed until next month as new sevens nations such as Russia continue to push for inclusion.

The New Zealand sevens side, which will be presented with the World Sevens Series trophy at Murrayfield on Sunday, headed south to Melrose on Wednesday to train at the home of sevens. Their long-serving coach Gordon Tietjens fell in love with the Melrose Sevens when he coached Bay of Plenty to the first New Zealand victory at the Greenyards in 1992 and he was a vociferous supporter of Melrose hosting the last leg in the world series before the SRU opted instead to switch it to Murrayfield.

When asked about a move away from Murrayfield, New Zealand captain DJ Forbes suggested Melrose would be a better destination than Glasgow.

Forbes, who has captained New Zealand to a handful of world series titles said: "We had a great time at Melrose. It was a special occasion for all of us. Most of the guys know that Melrose is where it started and it is a unique place. They let us use their main pitch to train, put on lunch for us and we got to look around at the amazing things they have in the club going back to when sevens began.

"It was one of those special days, one we will always remember. It was also pretty exciting to hear that they pack it out with 10-15,000 people, which must be quite an atmosphere and would be great to play in.

"If it went to Glasgow and they filled it up with 20,000 or something, it'd be like other tournaments.

"You don't get that number at Murrayfield, but Murrayfield is Murrayfield. Murrayfield and Twickenham are great stadiums with lots of history, the places you want to tick off in your career.

"If we came back next year and played in Glasgow, I'm sure there would be some young boys who might wish they'd had the chance to play at Murrayfield.

"If they moved it to Melrose I don't think they'd have any complaints from the players. That would be something very different, and pretty special."

An SRU spokesman said: "Scottish Rugby (the SRU] is working closely with various stakeholders to retain the IRB Sevens in Scotland beyond 2011.

"This week's event promises to be another great occasion. We have received excellent support from our partners, including the Scottish government, and will continue to liaise closely with the IRB in respect of retaining the event for further years."Mike Dalgetty, the Melrose RFC Director of Rugby, told The Scotsman: "The focus right now is on helping sevens, by supporting the SRU, IRB, EventScotland and Commonwealth Games organisers to develop sevens through to 2014.

"The club was delighted to host Gordon (Tietjens] and the New Zealand squad this week. But we are not in a position to discuss the merits or otherwise of a world series leg coming to the Greenyards.

"I don't know enough of the plans for moving to Scotstoun to comment on that, but if it was going to improve the legacy of the Commonwealth Games and benefit sevens and Scottish rugby as a whole then clearly it would be great."

Scotland captain Scott Riddell added: "There are plusses and minuses to everything. It would be good to broaden the horizons of rugby across Scotland, which is positive, but there are plusses to having the tournament at Murrayfield with the aura of the stadium and the history behind it.

"As Scotland players, though, we're just looking to get to this weekend's cup quarter-finals. I'd hope it's not the last one in Edinburgh or Scotland, but doing well and getting people along to watch would certainly help us keep it."