Amor leaves London Scottish for England 7s

Amor has been a driving force in the club’s rise to the championship, but when Ben Ryan stepped down from the Sevens post in the summer, former skipper Amor headed the RFU’s list of potential successors.

The 34-year-old, who joined Scottish as a player and assistant coach in 2008, will lead the team into the new season at Ealing this weekend, alongside existing coaches Serge Betsen, the former France flanker, James Buckland and Tim Harper, the head of strength and conditioning, but is expected to move to Twickenham in the coming weeks in preparation for the HSBC World Sevens Series, which kicks off in Australia in a month’s time.

Amor said: “I have enjoyed my time at London Scottish immensely and it’s with great sadness that I will be leaving the club.

“The opportunity to take over as England Sevens head coach, however, was too good to turn down and I’m grateful for the support I have received from London Scottish since being approached by the RFU.”

Scottish chairman Sir David Reid and chief executive Kenny Baillie, both Scots, wished Amor well.

Sir David said: “The board has been aware for a number of weeks that the RFU were seeking to appoint a new head coach of the England Sevens team and we are not surprised they have chosen Simon as that person.

“His pedigree as a player in the shortened format of the game is second to none and whilst the timing of this announcement is unfortunate with the season due to start on Saturday, we fully understand Simon’s desire to take up this new challenge.

“The club will immediately review all our internal and external options regarding the coaching set-up with a view to reaching an early decision.”

Baillie added: “We are extremely grateful for all his efforts and wish him every success in his new role.

“In James Buckland, Tim Harper and Serge Betsen we have a fine set of coaches who have all worked closely with Simon since they joined the club.”