Scott Forrest
Scott William Forrest (born 6 August 1984) is a Scottish retired rugby union player who competed in rugby sevens at 2010 Commonwealth Games, serving as captain of the national team at the event. He is the head coach of the Scotland Women 7s squad and the Great Britain Women 7s team for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.[2][3]
Birth name | Scott William Forrest | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Date of birth | 6 August 1984 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Rutherglen, Scotland | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 101 kg (15 st 13 lb; 223 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Hamilton College | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
University | University of Strathclyde | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Early life
Forrest was born in Rutherglen.[4] He attended West Coats Primary School[5] (Cambuslang) and Hamilton College, then studied sport and exercise science at the University of Strathclyde.
Rugby career
Playing
He started playing for Cambuslang at the age of eight years.[6] He was attached to Glasgow Warriors from 2005, but made his professional debut for Border Reivers in 2007 shortly before the club folded,[1] at which point he signed a 7s contract with Scotland, but was still affiliated with the Warriors.[1]
He represented Scotland at under-19 level while playing for Cambuslang,[1] and at under-21 level while with Glasgow Hawks.[7]
In Sevens, Forrest became involved in Scotland squads in 2006, playing in 30 World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments from the 2005–06 World Sevens Series onwards. Despite breaking an ankle playing 15s rugby in November 2008, he returned to take part in the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai the following March, leading his nation to victory in the Plate (the second-tier competition for those who did not progress in the primary Cup),[8][5] then achieving rare semi-final placings at the 2009 London Sevens and 2009 Edinburgh Sevens World Series events.
In September 2010 it was revealed that he would captain the Scotland Sevens team at the 2010 Commonwealth Games sevens competition in Delhi, which he later described as the highlight of his career.[9] After the event (in which Scotland placed sixth overall, losing the Plate final to Samoa), Forrest announced his retirement from playing at the age of 26 on account of long-term injury.[10] He took a post as rugby development officer in Inverclyde.[11]
Coaching
From 2012 Forrest coached the First XV at Cambuslang, then in May 2014 moved to Premiership side Ayr, where he had also been a player, to become the club's backs specialist.[6]
In April 2012 he became the coach for the new Scotland Women 7s squad that were scheduled to compete in a FIRA-AER tournament in Belgium in June 2012.[11] After five years in the role, in 2017 he stepped down and was replaced by Scott Wight.[12] He then worked as a performance lifestyle adviser at the Sportscotland Institute of Sport,[6] before returning to Scottish Rugby in late 2018 to take up the position of Women's High Performance Manager, 7s Head Coach and 15s Assistant Coach.[2][3]
Club honours
Glasgow Hawks
- Scottish Premiership: 2003-04, 2004–05, 2005–06
- Scottish Cup: 2003–04[13]
Ayr
- Scottish Premiership: 2008–09
Currie
- Scottish Premiership: 2009–10
References
- Tally of World Sevens Series Tournaments entered.
- "Player: Scott Forrest". GlasgowWarriors (unofficial). Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- "Scott Forrest named head coach of GB Women's sevens for Olympic Games". The Offside Line. 2 October 2019. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
- "Planning key as Forrest attempts to grow Team GB culture". Women In Rugby. 9 January 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
- "Scott Forrest". Scottish Rugby. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- "Scott Forrest returns from horror injury". Daily Record / Rutherglen Reformer. 25 March 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- McManus, Angela (23 May 2014). "Former rugby ace gears up to help Games athletes". Evening Times. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- "History & Archive". Glasgow Hawks. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- "Scotland win Sevens Plate final". BBC Sport. 7 March 2009. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- "Scott Forrest named Scotland Sevens captain for Delhi". BBC News. 21 September 2010.
- "Forrest to lead women's 7s side". The Scotsman. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- "Forrest branches out into coaching". The Herald. 19 April 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- "Scotland Womens' Sevens appoint Wight". Planet Rugby. 26 April 2017. Retrieved 6 April 2018.
- "Hawks fly free from Dundee's grappling hands". The Guardian. 2 May 2014. Retrieved 6 April 2018.