Phil Godman, capped 23 times by Scotland, has signed for London Scottish from Edinburgh Rugby.
The 29 year old Edinburgh born fly half has also represented Scotland at U18, U19 and U21 level before winning his first cap for the senior international side against Romania in June 2005.
He made his RBS Six Nations debut against Wales at Murrayfield in February 2007.
Godman captained Merchiston Castle School to victory in the Scottish Schools Cup in 2000 before signing a professional contract with Newcastle Falcons. He moved to Edinburgh Rugby from Newcastle in 2004.
Godman: “I’m excited to be joining a club with such a prestigious history. Obviously, with its Scottish heritage, it was a definite attraction for me. After a few injuries recently, I’m looking forward to kick-starting my career and getting on the pitch for London Scottish.”
Director of Rugby Simon Amor is excited about the signing of Godman as the club continues its search for Scottish talent, with Godman being the third Scot signed by the club this month.
Amor: “A core part of the London Scottish philosophy is always being on the lookout for Scottish talent. The signing of Phil’s calibre not only fits into this philosophy, but his quality shows the ambitions of the club as we prepare for a second year in the Championship.”
Amor also believes Godman’s experience can only benefit players such as young fly half Dan Mugford.
Amor: “I’m hugely excited. Dan is an exciting young talent, proven with his accolades this season as top try scorer, top points scorer and voted the Supporters Player of the Season. Having two excellent fly halves at the club can only benefit us and Dan will learn a lot from Phil. This fits in with our philosophy of developing younger players who have the potential to play at the highest level.”
Newcastle Falcons have completed the signing of former Scotland international Scott MacLeod for the start of the 2012-13 season.
The 33-year-old, who has 23 Scottish caps to his name, brings a wealth of experience to Kingston Park having featured in the 2007 Rugby World Cup.
Hawick-born MacLeod joins the Falcons on the back of a year’s stint with Japanese outfit Kobe Steelers.
Prior to his move to the Far East, MacLeod played for Border Reivers, Scarlets and latterly Edinburgh, establishing himself as a top-class second-row.
MacLeod won his first cap in 2004 and made his final appearance against Wales in Scotland’s 2011 Six Nations campaign.
The 6ft 6” 17st 5lb hit-man is delighted to have the opportunity to make the switch to the ambitious Falcons under the stewardship of incoming director of rugby Dean Richards.
Speaking to the Falcons official website MacLeod said: “Newcastle Falcons are a club with great potential and I am really looking forward joining up with my new teammates.
“I am good mates with Ally Hogg and he has told me how good the team spirit is at the club, and it can only go from strength to strength under the management of Dean Richards.”
New Zealand have retained their HSBC Sevens World Series title, ending the season with a third place finish at the Marriott London Sevens to finish on 167 Series points, six ahead of closest rivals Fiji.
The New Zealanders sealed a 10th Series title with a ruthless 36-0 quarter final win against South Africa, but fell to a brilliant Fijian performance in the semi final. However, the New Zealanders recovered to end the season on a high note, beating Argentina in the play-off for bronze.
The Fijians stormed to the London title to cap a season of achievement for them, matching New Zealand’s three Cup titles and underlining just how tight things are at the top of the Sevens game.
A record two-day Sevens crowd of 103,027 attended Twickenham over the weekend, a fitting climax to another thrilling season of international Rugby Sevens.
"It’s pretty special, we worked extremely hard to get this one and I think everyone knows how competitive the Sevens Series is now. We came here with an 11-point lead but still with an opportunity of blowing it," said NZ captain, DJ Forbes.
"The quarter final win (36-0 win against South Africa) was probably our only complete game of rugby this weekend, but there was a lot of passion, a lot behind it to make sure we wrapped up the Series.
"At the end of the day it comes down to consistency and that’s where we were probably a little bit ahead, but taking nothing away from Fiji, they’ve done extremely well to win here.
"I guess for us you could see that we’re used to playing under pressure, regardless of where we’re playing. If you’re wearing a black jersey everyone expects you to do well."
IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: "Once again New Zealand have proved that, over the course of an entire season, they are the finest Sevens side in the world and our congratulations go to them.
"And yet even on this, their day of triumph, they were denied in the Cup semi-finals by their closest challengers Fiji, which again underlines just how competitive our global Game of Rugby Sevens has become.
"In the women’s event too we have seen a wonderful tournament from the Netherlands in reaching a first Cup title and congratulations to England on winning their second title of the season.
"Twickenham has provided a wonderful and fitting stage for the finale of another superb season, capped off by another record crowd for a two-day event. We can look forward to a bright future as we gear towards the 2016 Olympic Games."
Australia took the Plate in London, beating England, who finished the season in third place ahead of Samoa in fourth and South Africa in fifth.
A record two-day Sevens crowd of 103,027 attended Twickenham over the weekend, a fitting climax to another thrilling season of international Rugby Sevens.
The Fijians stormed to the London title to cap a season of achievement for them, matching New Zealand’s three Cup titles and underlining just how tight things are at the top of the Sevens game.
The New Zealanders sealed a 10th Series title with a ruthless 36-0 quarter final win against South Africa, but fell to a brilliant Fijian performance in the semi final. However, the New Zealanders recovered to end the season on a high note, beating Argentina in the play-off for bronze.
Sixth placed Australia won the Plate, Wales lifted the Bowl, France were triumphant in the Shield whilst England won their second IRB Women’s Sevens Challenge Cup.
Australia pip hosts England to Plate
England narrowly missed out on the consolation of a Plate trophy when Dan Bibby missed a conversion and a penalty drop goal in the second half of the Plate final, allowing impressive Australia to hang on to a 14-12 victory and collect 13 Series points.
However, Mat Turner’s try in the final did put him one ahead of teammate Dan Norton as the season’s leading try scorer.
England reached the Plate final after a Turner try and Tom Mitchell conversion clinched a late 17-15 victory against South Africa. Australia reached the final after the Tokyo Sevens winners overturned a 12-5 half time deficit to beat Spain 17-12 in the semi.
Wales beat Scotland in Bowl
Twelve points from Alex Walker hands Wales a 27-5 victory against Scotland in the Bowl, as the reigning RWC Sevens champions collect eight points for the Series.
Two second half tries, one after the final buzzer had sounded, from Dan Fish booked Wales’ place in the Bowl final after a 28-26 victory against Portugal. They met Scotland following Graham Shiel’s side recorded a 31-19 victory against Zimbabwe in the second semi final thanks to two tries from Michael Fedo.
Earlier, 11 points from Alex Walker helped Wales beat USA 28-19 in the second Bowl quarter, entering this competition having lost to Spain and Fiji on day one.
Carl Murray scored twice for Portugal in the day’s opening match against RWC Sevens 2013 hosts Russia. The sides last met in the core team qualifying quarter final in Hong Kong, with Portugal narrowly winning 17-10 on their way to claiming one of the three places for next season’s Series, and recorded a 24-17 victory in London.
In the third match Scotland beat crowd favourites Kenya 21-5 before Dubai Sevens runners-up France suffered a 19-17 defeat to Zimbabwe with Jacques Leitao scoring the winning try for the Cheetahs.
England were edged out of a quarter final thriller 21-14 by Fiji after succumbing to an injury time score on the second morning of the Marriott London Sevens.
World Player of the Year nominee Mat Turner’s two tries had put England on the front foot and they were pushing for the winning score until they were penalised at the breakdown. Fiji then went the length of the field for Jamilai Naikadawa to clinch victory.
The result puts Fiji into the semi finals against New Zealand, who clinched a 10thHSBC Sevens World Series title when they thumped South Africa 36-0. Argentina meet Samoa in the other half of the draw.
Third-placed England now take on South Africa in the semi finals of the Plate competition.
On day one, England had beaten France 28-0 and the USA 15-5 before a 14-7 defeat against Samoa halted their progress.
Against Fiji – who will finish the series in second place – England produced their most incisive attacking work of the weekend.
BBC ALBA SCREEN LIVE COVERAGE OF LEINSTER V GLASGOW PRO12 PLAY-OFF SEMI-FINAL
Leinster v Glasgow Warriors
BBC ALBA – Saturday 12th May 19:30 – 21:25
BBC ALBA will this weekend screen live coverage of RaboDirect PRO12 semi-final showdown between Leinster and Glasgow Warriors.
Coverage from the Royal Dublin Society will begin on Saturday at 7.30pm. The match itself will begin at 7.35pm and commentary will be provided by Hugh Dan MacLennan.
Saturday’s clash will see Warriors and the Leinstermen bid to secure a place in the end of season PRO12 showpiece final.
Sean Lineen’s side will enter the game in a positive mood following last weekend’s comprehensive 24-3 win over Connacht and Warriors will be hoping they can progress one step further than they did in 2010 when they lost away to Ospreys at the semi-final stage.
The match will see Warriors come up against a formidable Leinster side who are aiming for a European and PRO12 double and who have reached the play-offs for the last three seasons.
However, Glasgow will take confidence from their unbeaten PRO12 record against Leinster this season.
Their first league meeting was in September when tries from Peter Horne and Nick Campbell, plus kicks from Duncan Weir and Scott Wight, helped Warriors to a famous 23-19 win in Dublin.
Their last league meeting was at Firhill in February in a match that ended in a 10-10 draw, with Glasgow’s points coming through a converted penalty try plus a penalty from Scotland stand-off Ruaridh Jackson.
As well as all the live action, we’ll have half-time features including interviews with Warriors skipper Al Kellock and departing head coach Sean Lineen.
BBC ALBA has signed an exclusive deal to show live RaboDirect PRO12 rugby in Scotland until the 2013/14 season. The channel is committed to showing at least eight Edinburgh or Glasgow home matches per season, and has teamed up with Irish and Welsh broadcasters to also provide live coverage of selected away matches for both sides.
Phil Godman, capped 23 times by Scotland, has signed for London Scottish from Edinburgh Rugby.
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