Phil Greening back in his Wasps days © PA Photos

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Players/Officials: Phil Greening

Teams: England | Scotland

The Scottish Rugby Union have turned to Phil Greening as the new head coach of their Sevens side.

Former England hooker Greening replaces Graham Shiel who has been demoted to a skills coaching post. Greening will now join fellow Englishmen Andy Robinson (Scotland head coach) and Neil Back (Edinburgh forwards coach) in moving north of the border.

Greening was assistant coach to England Sevens boss Mike Friday between 2005 and 2007 and has signed a three-year deal with the SRU. His immediate task is to turn the Sevens side into one that will be able to win a medal at their home Commonwealth Games in 2014 and he is relishing the task ahead.

"This is a really exciting time to be joining Scottish Rugby [SRU] and their developments in Sevens rugby," Greening said. "I can't wait to get started and back onto the circuit.

"I want to cement the Scotland 7s team as one of the core competitors in the abbreviated game and help produce some exciting new Scottish rugby talents ahead of the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2016 Olympics."

Scottish Rugby's director of performance rugby, Graham Lowe, said: "We're delighted to welcome Phil into this new role. He brings with him a wealth of international coaching and playing experience. His passion and understanding of sevens is clear and he has taken every opportunity to remain at the forefront of developments in the game after his time with England Sevens.

"He will be a key part of helping us reach our goals at the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games, and before that at next year's Rugby World Cup in Moscow. He will also drive our players to stake a claim for inclusion in the Great Britain Sevens team in the 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympics".