The Great Britain Rugby Sevens squad’s for the 2016 Olympic Games have been announced, and it seems both the men’s and women’s side’s mean business as top-class names have been included in the packs travelling to Rio.
Tom Mitchell will lead an experienced and exciting men’s team to the tournament that features rugby for the first time since 1924, when it was played as the 15 a-side format. 108 years have passed since a GB rugby side have qualified for an Olympic Games and head coach Simon Amor is clearly set on making this opportunity count. He has named a team more than capable of getting through the pool stages, facing Kenya, Japan and New Zealand from 9th August, and realises how special this unity of players from four nations is:
“At the recent tournament in Exeter, the crowd were chanting ‘GB’, something that has never been heard in the rugby sevens world before,” said Amor.
“It was yet another reminder of how privileged we are to now be part of one Team GB and the largest sporting event in the world.”
Skipper Mitchell will lead out a side seasoned with both 15s and 7s players, all who of which have great merits and achievements in the faster paced version of the sport. Dan Norton, fourth-highest leading scorer of all time in the World Sevens Series, joins England teammate James Rodwell, who set a world record as having played in most consecutive HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments (69).
Players who have flourished in the 15-a-side game and now successfully converted to sevens include speedster Marcus Watson of Newcastle Falcons and Harlequins’ Ollie Lindsay-Hague. From Welsh side Scarlets, 25 year old Jamie Davies will feature in the team, as will Glasgow Warriors’ Mark Bennett, who was nominated for breakthrough player of the year following last year’s Rugby World Cup. Alongside him will be his fellow Scotland Sevens teammate Mark Robertson, who racked up more than 420 points in the World Sevens Series in his five year long career with Scotland.
Meanwhile, Women’s head coach Simon Middleton has announced his travelling side for Rio, who is captained by the highly predicted Emily Scarratt. The strength and depth in this side will make watching them all the more thrilling, as Middleton told England Rugby:
“This is a hugely exciting moment for women’s rugby with sevens making its debut at the Olympic Games and we believe we have selected the best possible group of players to achieve success in Rio.”
Since coming together as a wider pack last October, this GB side have played invitational matches as well as training tournaments for them to develop as a team and to individually put their hand up for this Olympic’s selection. England’s Women have certainly raised the stakes this past season, winning the Canadian leg of the World Sevens Series and finishing fourth in the rankings overall. Their stalwart Heather Fisher will join teammate Scarratt and Danielle Waterman in Brazil. They all became World Champions in the 15-a-side 2014 Women’s World Cup and have since gone on to bring their skills into the sevens format.
Jasmine Joyce is part of the Welsh contingent going for gold in Rio after joining up with the GB squad last year. They will face hosts Brazil on 6th August, followed by matches versus Japan and Canada. With this sport being given an enormous build up in preparation for the Games, Scarratt admitted,
“As a squad, we are looking forward to being among the first athletes to play rugby sevens on the world’s biggest sporting stage. I am immensely proud to be representing Great Britain and introducing women’s rugby to new audiences.”
GB Men’s Sevens Squad
Mark Robertson
Alex Davis
Phil Burgess
Dan Norton
James Rodwell
Tom Mitchell (C)
Dan Bibby
James Davies
Ollie Lindsay-Hague
Sam Cross
Marcus Watson
Mark Bennett
Reserves
Luke Treharne
Ruaridh McConnochie
GB Women’s Sevens Squad
Claire Allan
Abbie Brown
Alice Richardson (VC)
Emily Scarratt (C)
Danielle Waterman
Katy Mclean
Heather Fisher
Emily Scott
Natasha Hunt
Joanne Watmore
Jasmine Joyce
Amy Wilson-Hardy
Reserves
13. Megan Jones
14. Kay Wilson
Quotes courtesy of England Rugby.
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