Ciaran Beattie: 'The SVNS Series is the ultimate playground for development'

Even ahead of his 19th season associated with international rugby sevens Ciaran Beattie still gets those butterflies ahead of a new season.

In October the former Scotland 7s international was charged with running a newly established Scotland men’s sevens programme, along with the men’s and women’s Great Britain Sevens teams that will compete on the HSBC SVNS World Series in 2025/26.

It is a task which Beattie is accustomed to. Since 2022 he has led Great Britain as programme director since it was confirmed that England, Scotland and Wales had to join forces.

As part of this Scottish Rugby-led iteration of the programme, six core men’s players (Finn Callaghan, Matt Davidson, Roan Frostwick, Jacob Henry, Damien Hoyland and Josh Radcliffe) have been contracted full-time and operate out of the Oriam performance centre at Heriot Watt University.

Players from the academies of Edinburgh Rugby, Glasgow Warriors and Scotland’s National Talent Pathway also compliment the side, while Beattie oversees selection of players from England and Wales too.

The women’s programme operates predominantly in England and Wales, with athletes nominated for selection.

This weekend’s season opener in Dubai sees this new-look Great Britain compete together for the first time. Ahead of getting their flight to the UAE, the men’s and women’s teams had spent five days together as a group.

“We’ve not had the first hit in the face yet, it’s all positive so far,” Beattie told RugbyPass. “Everybody’s in a good space with it. Going to Dubai at this time of year is always a good carrot. There’s a blank page when you go to Dubai.”

One thing at the heart of this latest iteration of Great Britain will be the development of players.

For decades sevens has been used as a way to develop its players. The exposure to a high standard of rugby, life on tour and meaningful match minutes have seen plenty thrive.

Ellie Kildunne, Rieko Ioane, Hugo Keenan and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe all spent time trekking across the world to play sevens and have benefitted from their time on the Series.

In Scottish Rugby’s unveiling of the new programme this exposure was spoken about heavily. Performance director David Nucifora said that playing the shortened format of the game can “better prepare” Scottish players for the demands of professional rugby.

“The reality is, the SVNS Series is like the ultimate playground for development,” Beattie said. “By simply putting players, coaches, anybody on that circuit is tough. You get stretched, you find things out about yourself.

“Not 15s bashing, but you have got a voice. Any time you do anything, you have a serious impact on how things work. It’s pretty cool as a development tool.

“There’s a real opportunity for individuals to develop here. As a player, coach, physio. It doesn’t matter. It’s just a great place for that.

 

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“That’s been refreshing to have those conversations about who we think will benefit from this. I think at the tail-end of the season, when we head into the Championships and there’s promotion and relegation, that conversation will be there but there will be a bit more focus on how GB 7s can benefit which is cool.”

Heading into Dubai and Cape Town, exactly what to expect from Great Britain is uncertain. In contrast to virtually every team they will come up against their runway has been a lot shorter.

Last year both the men’s and women’s teams finished just above the relegation zone. Even so Harry Glover was named in the men’s Dream Team for the season, and the women posted their best tournament finish. Fourth in Dubai.

Whatever happens, you have to think that Great Britain will grow over the course of a season that concludes with Grand Finals in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux.

“When you think about what success is and there’s an obvious thing of wins and losses on the scoreboard,” Beattie said. “That’s a clear indicator of success in some aspects.

“There’s other aspects about being clear about what we’re going after. We got five days together as opposed to the five months for some teams. There’s real opportunity within that because we can focus on some things we want to go after and be clear with that.

“Success for us will be learning about where we are and how we are taking steps forward. I just got off a call with a player and they said, how do you think we’ll go?

“I just said, with Dubai it depends what time of day you ask me. Because I could be going, we’re going to win. I’ll put my mortgage on it. And then I’ll have no idea because everyone is in the same boat.

“It really is an open book. Ask me after Cape Town. I’ll have a more concise answer after that.”

So, it is season 19 for Beattie. The Scot jokes that as every year seems to have some aspect of change. It is more like a 19th year of a totally different experience. But it never gets old.

“It’s an absolute privilege to be involved,” Beattie said. “I’m so grateful for every moment I am involved. My alarm goes off at half four every morning and I skip out of bed.

“A previous coach described sevens as a bit of a drug. The highs are just crazy and the lows are low. There are some serious parts. Really tough parts. But that’s when you learn about yourself.”