Scotland rugby sevens coach Phil Greening to miss tour

Mystery today surrounded the future of Phil Greening as Scotland rugby sevens coach as SRU chiefs have cited “personal issues” for his absence as the squad prepare to do battle in New Zealand next week.

The 37-year-old former England hooker, who was only appointed in August as successor to Graham Shiel, will be missing when the team

leave for next week’s leg of the international circuit in New Zealand.

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SRU chief executive Mark Dodson today cited “personal issues” as the reason for his absence.

It is understood Greening did not return north of the Border after the festive period and Dodson confirmed that former coach Stevie Gemmell would take a break from his role of Head of Player Development to lead the sevens squad to Wellington.

Dodson said: “Phil Greening has some personal issues and we will be coming back to you in due course with some more information.

“Stevie Gemmell takes the team on the next leg (of the circuit).”

Greening helped England to a Commonwealth Games silver medal but has struggled to achieve success with Scotland.

Most recently, the Scots were humbled by Zimbabwe at a tournament in South Africa and Greening admitted the result was “embarrassing.”