Rugby 7’s
A sneak peak at the Rugby 7's players
training at Murrayfield Stadium. Coach, Graham Shiel, and player,
Mike Adamson, tell us why they’re 'Sporting their Trainers'.
Graham Sheil
Position: Head Coach (2010
to date)
Age: 40 (13/08/70)
Born: Galasheils
Lives: Edinburgh
Occupation: Scotland 7s assistant coach
International record: Scotland (18 caps)
Notes: Graham Shiel, who
earned 18 full international caps at centre and stand-off, was
introduced to seven-a-side rugby as a school-boy in the locally
renowned sevens tournament, the Crichton Cup, before plying his
trade at the birth-place of sevens, Melrose. After a playing career
which he began as an amateur and ended as a professional (with
spells at Border Reivers and Edinburgh Rugby) Shiel’s first
coaching role was in a player/coach capacity at Stewart’s Melville
before he joined Edinburgh Rugby as Academy manager under the
stewardship of Lynn Howells. In 2006 Shiel moved into the National
Academy where, alongside player development duties, he was the
assistant coach for the Scotland under-19 team. Shiel joined the
Scotland 7s management for the London and Edinburgh legs of the
2009/10 IRB Sevens World Series and 2010 Commonwealth Games in
Delhi before taking over as head coach in September 2011.
Mike Adamson
Position: Scrum-half /
Stand-off
Age: 26 (17/05/84)
Born: Stirling
Lives: Glasgow
Height: 173cm
Weight: 75kg
Occupation: Rugby
Player
Club: Glasgow Hawks & Scotland 7s
Coach: Stephen Gemmell
Commonwealth Games representation: 2010
International record: Scotland 7 s, U18A, U19,
U21
Scotland 7s record: 392 points (36 tries and 106
drop-goals from 28 IIR Sevens World Series tournaments)
Main achievements: Mike
first represented Scotland sevens in December 2006 in the Dubai
tournament which kicked off that season’s IRB World Series. In the
subsequent tournament in George, South Africa, he scored half of
Scotland’s 60 points with four tries and five conversions and
finished that season with 173 Series points for the Scots. In April
2008 Mike was awarded the player-of-the-tournament prize for his
performances with the Scottish Thistles in their Melrose sevens
victory. He played in four of the IRB 2008/09 World Series
tournaments and in March 2009 was in a member of the Plate-winning
Scotland squad the Rugby World Cup sevens. Having now celebrated a
silver anniversary of 25 World Series events, his try tally stands
at 36, with a further 106 successful kicks adding up to 392 points.
A professional player with Glasgow Warriors, he has also
represented his country at under-18A, under-19 and under-21
levels.