Scotland to lose rugby sevens venue to France

SCOTTISH rugby has been dealt a blow with the news that it is to lose its role as a destination on the IRB Sevens World Series.

Ibrox hosted 171,000 fans across four days at Glasgow 2014. Picture: Ian Rutherford

The BBC has reported that France is take over as one of the nine legs of the circuit and that next year’s event in Glasgow will be the last. Scotstoun has been home of the Scottish leg for the past three years after five years at Murrayfield.

The BBC report said an official announcement is expected soon but that the Scottish Rugby Union has been informed of the IRB’s decision.

The news will be a particular blow coming just three months after the extraordinary success of the Commonwealth Games sevens event at Ibrox Stadium, which attracted 171,000 over two days. Moving the Scottish leg away from the national rugby stadium in Edinburgh to the more compact and atmospheric Scotstoun had been viewed as a positive move, with crowds of 26,000 attending the two days play in May.

The series will move to Paris from 2016 with the SRU having to wait until 2019 until it can bid to have the series return to the nation that invented the abbreviated version of the sport.

Scotland will not be the only nation left disappointed with Japan believed to have lost its hosting spot to Singapore.