Darcy Graham set for Great Britain Sevens debut this weekend

Scotland’s record try scorer Darcy Graham has been called up for Great Britain Sevens ahead of the Sevens World Championship in Bordeaux this weekend.

Last year Scottish Rugby took ownership of the Great Britain Sevens programme as part of their performance pathway and Graham has been selected for GB this weekend.

Great Britain Sevens experienced a frustrating weekend in Valladolid last time out and are aiming for a high finish in France to finish in the top eight standings to retain their place in the World Series for next year.

Graham has previous experience playing for Scotland Sevens, competing on the World Series from 2016-2018 and playing at the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Graham joins Brent Jackson and Finlay Callaghan in the squad. They replace Tom Burton and Sunni Jardine who are out of the squad through injury. Callaghan led Scottish Thistles to recent Melrose Sevens glory, defeating Edinburgh Accies in the final. The women’s team is unchanged from last weekend.

Following selection Darcy Graham said: “David Nucifora called and asked me if I wanted to join the boys out in Bordeaux. I’m on downtime right now but I jumped at the opportunity and I’m buzzing. If I wasn’t doing this I would just be training away so I’d rather be competing at a high level.

“I’m excited to get back out there. It’s been eight years since I was last on the world series and the game is a lot different so I’ll have to flick that switch to catch up with the rest of the boys. There is a bit of added pressure there to finish in the top eight so it’ll be a massive weekend for me and the boys.”

Reflecting on his experience playing the sevens game in the past, he said: “I loved it. Scotland have missed the sevens as it gives you massive development for playing 15s. Me, Maggie (Magnus Bradbury) and George Horne have all come through that programme. I wouldn’t be in the position I am today without it. You can almost use it as a third pro team to kick boys on in their career and it’s great Scottish Rugby are driving it forward.”

With the Nations Championship squad announcement looming, Darcy also has his sights set on playing for Scotland this summer where they play Argentina and South Africa away from home. They’ll then return to Edinburgh to take on Fiji in a match Darcy is really looking forward to.

He said: “I love playing for Scotland and always want to do my best and perform. It’ll be good for us to play Fiji at Murrayfield. I love playing them. It’s always a special game for me. They’re physical and you never quite know what they’re going to throw at you.”

Ciaran Beattie, Great Britain Sevens Director of Rugby said: “Last weekend was disappointing for both the men’s and women’s teams as we felt we were within touching distance of victory on many occasions but just fell short.

“With it being the first year of the reformed programme we’ve had some challenges but there’s been lots of signs of promise and we’re hoping to end on a high this weekend.

“Having Darcy Graham with us this week is brilliant. He is Scotland’s record try scorer and someone who has used sevens as a springboard for his career. He is an inspiration to a lot of young players in Scotland and having him out with us will make a difference.

“It’s great to have Finlay Callaghan included too. He led the Scottish Thistles so well at the Melrose Sevens and will come into the group high on confidence.”

Men’s Squad

3. Finlay Callaghan (Scotland Sevens)
4. Roan Frostwick (Scotland Sevens)
5. Marcus Kershaw (Great Britain Sevens)
6. Matt Davidson (Scotland Sevens)
8. Jacob Henry (Scotland Sevens)
9. Brent Jackson (Glasgow Warriors Pro-Academy)
11. Ethan Waddleton (Great Britain Sevens)
12. Ben Salmon (Glasgow Warriors Pro-Academy)
13. Fin Lloyd Gilmour (Great Britain Sevens)
14. Ryan Apps (Great Britain Sevens)
22. Kaleem Barreto
23. Josh Radcliffe (Scotland Sevens)
24. Charlton Kerr (Great Britain Sevens) CAPTAIN
26. Darcy Graham (Edinburgh Rugby)