Scott Forrest took his first steps as a coach yesterday as he announced the Scotland Women sevens squad.
The squad will compete in a FIRA-AER tournament in Belgium in June, with the Scots pooled with Finland, Czech Republic, Belgium, Norway, Malta, Poland, Israel, Georgia and Serbia. They must finish in first or second to proceed to a 2013 Women's Sevens World Cup qualifier in Moscow.
Trials for the places took place in Scotland and also in London over the last four weeks, led by Forrest, with aim of qualification for the 2013 Women's Sevens Rugby World Cup. Forrest had been forced to retire prematurely following the 2010 Commonwealth Games due to injury, and was later appointed as rugby development officer in Inverclyde.
"Going into sevens coaching just made sense because I've been involved in the game for so long," said Forrest, who has left two slots open to accommodate players returning from the Great Britain Student 7s trials this month. "This opportunity came up and I was really excited. It's the first time I've worked with a women's squad – although in my job I do development work with girls' teams – and they've been great.
"Although they haven't played a lot of sevens, the girls are very open and love to ask questions, which is great for a coach. The difference between males and females playing the game is the pace and skill level but, in terms of the game, the structure is exactly the same.
"I've played sevens for quite a long time and one thing I've learnt is that on any one day, any team can beat any other team. That's the beauty of sevens."
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