The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Skipper looks forward to Gold Coast ‘buzz’
RUGBY SEVENS: Riddell expecting Commonwealth Games to bring out best in his Scotland squad
Scotland Sevens captain Scott Riddell admits the Commonwealth Games brings an “extra buzz” to the squad.
Riddell will lead a 13-strong Scotland squad, including Perth’s James Fleming and Courier Country duo George Horne and Matt Fagerson, on the Gold Coast next month as they look to pick up their first Commonwealth medal in the event.
It is not new territory for Riddell, who is one of only two players in the squad named by John Dalziel to have experienced a Games before, and he is relishing the opportunity to be part of the tournament once again.
The Scots will fly out to Hong Kong this week to compete in the latest instalment of the World Series, which will give the squad valuable time to train together but Riddell says joining up with the rest of Team Scotland will mean that little bit more.
“There are more things going on at the Commonwealth Games, there are all the other sports going on,” he said. “It adds to the extra buzz at the event.
“There is always a great buzz around the World Series events and being part of Team Scotland, you are part of something bigger – you are representing your country in a multi-sport environment.
“Any time we have had training camps at Dunblane previously, it is such a positive environment to be involved in and you feed off that.
“It’s so, so exciting. It will bring out the best of us to be a part of that.”
The Scotland squad will fly out to Hong Kong on the back of a disappointing outing in Vancouver earlier in the month, when they failed to win a group match but ended up claiming the Challenge Trophy to finish ninth.
So far in 2018 they have failed to offer any encouragement that they may walk away from the Commonwealth Games with a medal, but Riddell remains confident that a strengthened squad – with full Scotland internationals Ruaridh Jackson and Lee Jones included – can see them return to the form of last year, when they claimed a World Series title at Twickenham.
That win in May last year sparked what has been a successful period for Scottish rugby, with the full side impressing in the autumn and recent Six Nations as well as Glasgow and Edinburgh doing well, and Riddell is looking to continue that progress.
He said: “We won the tournament down at Twickenham, so we were part of that positive turn within Scottish rugby.
“The sevens squad going out and performing really well and beating the top teams in the world shows the belief that is in our squad and in Scottish rugby at the moment.
“The way we are looking to play, there are things we will look to take from the national team and try and incorporate that into our game, and there are things they may take back and look to increase the tempo in their squad.
“It is a great way of developing players who will go back into the 15s environment, absolutely full of confidence and enjoying their rugby.”
… it is such a positive environment to be involved in and you feed off that. SCOTT RIDDELL