Samurai Rugby, one of the leading rugby sevens clubs in the world, is delighted to announce that Wales 7s coach Christian Hitt will join the coaching team for Samurai Rugby squads competing in the UK Super Sevens Series competitions this year. Christian will lead the forwards coaching, working alongside Head Coach Scott Wight, the ex-Scotland 7s international player.

Christian is well-known to Samurai Rugby having recently been Head Coach of Samurai Rugby teams at the Independence 7s in Nigeria and the Safari 7s in Kenya. He also coached several Samurai Rugby Academy teams in the RFU 24/7 series of competitions in the UK. Christian coaches with the Wales World Series squad, having previously worked with the Wales 7s Academy.

Samurai's Director of Rugby, Terry Sands, says "we are delighted that Christian accepted our invitation to coach for us and we're excited at the prospect of Christian and Scott Wight working together. We know Christian well and he did a great job for Samurai Rugby in Kenya and Nigeria recently. He is a very talented, young, up and coming coach with lots of potential. As defending champions of the Super Sevens Series in both 2017 and 2016, it's an important tournament for us, and the coaching team selection is key for us. As an invitational team we normally rotate coaches between legs of the series but this year we felt it more appropriate to give Christian & Scott the reins for all four legs. The standard of play in the Super Sevens Series gets higher every year and we need to progress to compete."

In confirming his role for the SSS, Christian says "I recently coached Samurai Rugby to success in the Independence 7s, a couple of legs of the SSS, and the Chester 7s which will form part of the competition this year. I love the transnational nature of Samurai squads, and their high-performance ethos in which they still manage to find space to develop young talent. They embody the spirit of rugby 7s and I'm excited to be working with them again."

The Super Sevens Series is the most prestigious elite 7s competition in the UK, with established 7s teams battling it out alongside some national teams from other countries. A four-leg competition, the SSS starts with the Greene King Premier 7s in Bury St. Edmunds (6th May 2018), moves onto the London Irish 7s (2nd June), followed by Chester 7s (16th June), before the final leg at the Ealing Trailfinders 7s on 7th July. Samurai Rugby won a tight 2017 league with Rambling Jesters, British Army 7s, Irish Wolfhounds, Wailers and England IPF finishing not far behind.

About Samurai Rugby: Samurai Rugby Football Club was founded in 1996, being inspired by the playing spirit and tenacity of the Japanese national rugby team in the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Samurai Rugby has gone on to become one of the best 7s clubs in the world. It operates on a purely invitational basis, usually creating a new squad of coaches and players for each tournament, with a win/loss ratio which is the envy of the sport. Squads are usually a mix of professional and amateur players and coaches, but more especially a mix of nationalities with typically at least five or six countries being represented. Players do not get paid for playing and being selected to play for Samurai Rugby is seen as an honour, even for professional players.

CONTACT | Keith Dewar | Communications Director, Samurai Rugby | +44-7780-667777