Captain Fergusson sure Team GB can win over the sceptics with performances on the pitch

English, Welsh and Scottish supporters now have to play nice after years of rivalry in the scaffolding stands at The Sevens

Team GB's Robbie Fergusson scores a try in the men's pool B rugby sevens match between Britain and Canada during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. AFP

Gone are the days when England fans rocked up to the Emirates Dubai Sevens expecting their side to be in title contention at the end of it.

It is 12 years now since England was last inscribed on the Emirates International Trophy. And they will struggle to do it this weekend, seeing as the side no longer exists.

For years, England, Wales and Scotland fans had baited each other in the scaffolding stands while their teams did battle on the field.

Then in the past two years they discovered they were going to have to rub along nicely instead seeing as they were all part of the same team now. Most were a little nonplussed to discover the home nations had been merged to make Great Britain Sevens.

Robbie Fergusson, the captain of the GB men’s team, says it has taken some getting used to, even for the players.

“I have some of my best memories here from when I was playing for Scotland against England, and the bagpipes were playing and there was the rivalry,” Fergusson said.

“Last year was almost a shock to the fans. They didn’t seem to be fully aware of GB and what that was. There would still be an English contingent, a Welsh contingent and a Scottish contingent.

“[Dubai] was the first tournament last year and as the year went on the GB element grew. We saw Union Jacks and the fans came round to it.

“It will be interesting to see this weekend where we are with it. The expat community is obviously massive, with lots of English support.

“Will they stick with England and not really know as they are there for the party, or have they twigged on to the Great Britain thing?

“We have found that the better you play in these tournaments the more people back you anyway. So that is the simple answer.”

Ayr-born Fergusson knows bagpipes are a little slice of home for him, but he says all of his teammates would appreciate hearing them in the stands.

“Whether you know it or not, you have our own little cultures inside the team, but the English boys love the bagpipes, as do the Welsh boys,” Fergusson said.

“Yes, we know it is iconic of Scotland, but as Great Britain it encompasses what we are as well. It is a thing we love in general, not just for us Scottish players.”

Although England last won in Dubai in 2011, they did finish second in 2015, then third for the four years which followed.

Wales were third in 2012 and fourth in 2016, having won the Rugby World Cup Sevens when it was played in Dubai in 2009.

When they joined forces for the first Olympics sevens tournament in Rio in 2016, they took silver behind Fiji.

And yet the new, permanent GB team has more modest goals at present. They finished ninth on the World Series last season, so retaining their place on the newly revamped 12-team series for next season is priority No 1.

Financial constraints have also altered the way they train. There three four-day camps in Largs near Glasgow, and also played a four-day tournament in Spain.

“The reality of Great Britain is we are still a team that is forming and finding its feet,” Fegusson said.

“We don’t have a training base. We travel to train and everything is camp based for us. We have had really minimal training together, 16 days, when some of these teams will have done 16 weeks.

“That is where we are as a team. We know there is going to be hurt in this but one thing we are is super tight as a group. Our culture is brilliant.

“We realise it is backs against the wall for us which makes you tighter as a group off the field. Whether that translates on the field, maybe not early doors, but I think it will slowly.

“These two weeks [for Dubai and the Cape Town Sevens which follows] are massive for us because it almost doubles our time together. We know there will be hurt involved, but it is about how we learn and develop.”