Highland Rugby Club to host Inverness City Sevens tournament in conjunction with Highland Beer, Gin and Whisky Festival at Canal Park

Highland Rugby Club will finally host their long-awaited sevens tournament this weekend, tying in with the Highland Beer, Gin and Whisky Festival at Canal Park.

There will be three days of events on and off the pitch, with a mini's rugby festival on Friday afternoon, sevens tournaments featuring senior men, senior women and under-18s teams on Saturday before wrapping up the weekend with under-14s and under-16s tournaments as well as finals day on Sunday.

Highland had been trying to organise a sevens tournament before the Covid-19 pandemic hit, with the restrictions in place hitting any hopes of having one over the last couple of years.

This year, though, rugby is back in force and it is set to be an extremely busy few days at Canal Park – with director of rugby Brian Bell excited to see the results.

"We've been trying to get this going for a few seasons now, and it has been on and off, on and off, on and off," he explained.

"We've got there in the end. We maybe could have done with a couple of rehearsals before doing a three-day one, but it has all come together.

"It will be good, and the weather is shaping up nicely so it will be a really great day for spectators, who can also socialise at the event itself whether they drink alcohol or not.

"It's going to be amazing – stressful, but in a positive way. It will be a great weekend, and I'm really looking forward to it.

"We will have lots of sevens matches played with people of all ages enjoying themselves, so it's a chance to socialise and have an end-of-season get together."

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