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Duo ready for Kinsale Sevens challenge

Two highly thought of players are looking forward to being part of the PROJECX Waterboys squad this weekend.

The Waterboys performed well at the Hong Kong 10s earlier this month and now players from Scottish clubs GHA, Boroughmuir, Watsonians, Howe of Fife, Currie and Marr will aim to make their mark at the Heineken Kinsale Sevens Rugby Festival in Kinsale, Ireland on Saturday and Sunday.

Will Wardlaw has already made one appearance for the Waterboys at last year’s Hong Kong 10s and he said:  “It is a great honour and opportunity to play for the Waterboys this weekend, you only have to look at the quality of the squad picked.

“I’ve played on the invitational sevens circuit in Europe for a number of years and always thought Scottish players were missing out on a higher level of competition and opportunity, now we have that.

“These tournaments are a different style to what you find in the Borders and although this is my first time at Kinsale I am aware it will be a step up in level from what is played in Scotland.

“I’ve only just got back from Australia a month ago so didn’t play 15s this season in Scotland. Instead I played for West Harbour in the Shute Shield in Sydney with Mike Fedo.

“Since returning I’ve been playing for Howe of Fife over the last few weekends at sevens.”

Kiwi Tom Stanley, pictured, has previously played for the Waterboys twice and he stated:  “It is an honour to be putting on the Waterboys jersey again and for the first time in 2017, the Kinsale tournament will be special as I have some Irish blood and have never been to Ireland.

“The experiences I have had with the Waterboys have been awesome and I cannot wait to add to that in 2017. The squad is a mix of players that I have played with and some that I have never met and it’ll be good to get to know them.

“This year I have made the journey to the other side of the world from home and played for Cambridge University. We had a very successful season and won the Varsity Match against Oxford at Twickenham breaking a six year drought!

“My rugby journey has taken me throughout New Zealand and all over the world. I grew up in Christchurch playing for age-grade Canterbury teams and made it through to the Canterbury ITM Cup wider training squad and Crusaders development team before moving to the Hawkes Bay ITM Cup team.

“In 2016 I moved to the UK to complete a Masters degree at Cambridge and the highlights of my rugby journey so far have been holding the Ranfurly Shield with Hawkes Bay for 14 games throughout 2014/15, winning the ITM Cup Championship in 2015 and winning the Varsity Match at Twickenham.”

 Once again PROJECX, International Power and Water Investments, JA Resorts & Hotels, Ace Property Management , Sarcogent Solutions and Ethigen are supporting the team. They also have a range of new sponsors including Kyloe Restaurant (Signature Pubs), Orion Systems, St. Julians Advisory, 4 Navitas and Bureau.