Borders players Chloe and Lisaline up for more Sevens action

The Scottish Women's 7s squad (picture by Mike Lee).

The ladies are taking part in round one of the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series on Saturday and Sunday in Marcoussis, a suburb of the French capital.

In the 2018 Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series, Scotland came fourth behind Russia, France and Ireland.

As the highest non-World Series core nation, they were invited this month to the final leg of the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series in Biarritz, with Jedburgh’s Chloe, of Lille Metropole Rugby Club Villeneuvios, and Hawick’s Lisa (Darlington Mowden Park RFC), in the squad.

They scored a superb victory against Ireland – the only invited team to record a win this season.

On the opening day, Scotland were defeated 44-7 by New Zealand and 31-15 by Russia, while they drew with England.

In the Challenge Trophy semi-final on day two, they went down 31-10 to Fiji.

However, delight followed in the 11th-place play-off, as they beat Ireland 26-14 – with Lisa Thomson among the try scorers.

The squad also played in the World Series Qualifiers in Hong Kong in April, where they were runners-up to Brazil in the final.

For the first leg of the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series, Scotland have been placed in a pool with Ireland, Italy and Spain.

To reach the qualifiers for the 2020 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, they will need to be in the top three of the non-core teams.

Head coach Scott Forrest said: “We are going into Europe in a positive place.

“The team has gelled and developed so much over the last few months, and to come away with a win in Biarritz was a fantastic achievement.

“The Rugby Europe competitions will be really important for us this year and I am excited to see what the squad will bring to the pitch.”