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Great Britain women's national rugby sevens team

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For the men's team, see Great Britain national rugby sevens team.
Great Britain
UnionBritish Olympic Association
Coach(es)Nick Wakley
Captain(s)Abbie Brown
Team kit
Change kit
First international
 Brazil 3–29 Great Britain 
(6 August 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Largest win
 Great Britain 50–5 Mexico 
(26 September 2021; Edmonton, Canada)
Largest defeat
 Canada 33–10 Great Britain 
(8 August 2016, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
 Fiji 28–5 Great Britain 
(27 November 2021, Dubai, UAE)[1]
 United States 40–17 Great Britain 
(4 December 2021, Dubai, UAE)[2]
Great Britain women's national rugby sevens team
Medal record
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kraków–Małopolska Team


The Great Britain national rugby sevens team is the women's Olympic representative team of Great Britain at the rugby sevens tournament at the Summer Olympic Games. The team played their first competitive match at the 2016 Summer Olympics after England finished in an Olympic qualifying place at the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

They qualified for the 2020 Summer Olympics through England winning the 2019 Rugby Europe Women's Sevens Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kazan. Great Britain finished in fourth place after losing in the bronze medal match to Fiji.[3] They participated at the 2021 Canada Women's Sevens and won the tournament back to back in Vancouver and Edmonton.[4]

History

[edit]
Great Britain vs Brazil at the 2016 Olympics

When rugby sevens was admitted to the Summer Olympics in 2009,[5] it was unknown how Great Britain could qualify.[6] England, Wales and Scotland; three of the four nations that make up the United Kingdom that Great Britain represents at the Olympics, all compete separately within international sevens competition. It was suggested that if any of them finished in an Olympic qualifying spot then Great Britain would qualify through them. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Rugby Board (IRB) clarified that Great Britain must select only one nation to be the only one able to obtain qualification as it was viewed that the three individual nations could give Great Britain three chances to qualify compared with other nations only having one.[7] The individual British rugby unions selected England to be the lead nation due to their professional sevens set-up.[8] This also meant that Wales and Scotland could no longer participate in the repecharge competition on behalf of the Sevens Women Grand Prix Series if they qualified due to participation in the repecharge being limited to nations who could qualify for the Olympics.[9] England secured Great Britain's qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing fourth in the 2015 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series after defeating the United States in the third place playoff in Amsterdam.[10]

Following qualification for the 2016 Summer Olympics, a new Great Britain Sevens organization was set up called GB Rugby Sevens. Despite England being the nation that qualified Great Britain for the Olympics, it was announced that the Welsh Rugby Union and the Scottish Rugby Union would join the Rugby Football Union for Women in forming the executive board and committee to decide the selection of the team.[11] In May 2015, Joe Lydon was appointed as the performance manager responsible for recruiting the head coach for the Great Britain women's rugby sevens team.[12]

Eligibility

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While England was the team that qualified Great Britain for the Olympics, the Great Britain national rugby sevens team is able to select players from Wales and Scotland as well as England in accordance with IOC eligibility rules based on passport ownership.[13] The Rugby Football Union for Women will make recommendations for the team however the British Olympic Association will be the body that makes the final determination for places.[14] Players would be eligible for selection if they had played in the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, Rugby Europe International Sevens or any other invitational tournament 14 months before the Olympics.[15]

Northern Irish players, according to the IOC's rules as British passport holders, would have been eligible to represent Great Britain. However the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), which governs rugby in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland together, demanded that Northern Irish players only play for the Ireland national rugby sevens team.[16] However, it was stated that Northern Irish players could legally challenge that demand, particularly if Ireland failed to qualify due to differences in World Rugby and IOC qualifying criteria.[13]

Tournament record

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World Rugby Sevens Series

[edit]

The women's team, along with the men's, competed in the first two (Dubai) of the 2021–22 Sevens Series as a sole team, rather than the individual teams (England, Scotland, Wales). This was in keeping with an agreement to continue playing as one team throughout 2021. Points accumulated by the team were later distributed to the constituent nations fairly, and in proportion.[17]

Team 2021–22 Series Matches PF PA ± Pts Pos.
Event Pos. Event Pos. P W D L
 Great Britain Dubai I 5th Dubai II 10th 10 4 0 6 174 218 –44 15[a] 6 / 10

Summer Olympics

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Olympic Games record
Year Round Position Pld W L D
Brazil 2016 Third-place playoff 4th 6 4 2 0
Japan 2020 Third-place playoff 4th 6 3 3 0
France 2024 Seventh-place playoff 7th 6 3 3 0
Total 0 Titles 3/3 18 10 8 0

Squad

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Sevens Series squad

[edit]
2023–24 Series
Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Matches Points Union
Rhona Lloyd (1996-10-17) 17 October 1996 (age 28) 89 295 Stade Bordelais
BK Jasmine Joyce (1995-10-09) 9 October 1995 (age 29) 114 410 Bristol Bears
BK Shona Campbell (2001-06-07) 7 June 2001 (age 23) 71 45 Edinburgh University
BK Abbie Brown (1996-04-10) 10 April 1996 (age 28) 211 329 Bristol Bears
Isla Norman-Bell (2000-02-21) 21 February 2000 (age 24) 69 150
BK Heather Cowell (1996-01-23) 23 January 1996 (age 28) 87 163 Harlequins
Lauren Torley (1999-09-02) 2 September 1999 (age 25) 35 5
BK Grace Crompton (2001-10-30) 30 October 2001 (age 22) 69 185 Bristol Bears
BK Emma Uren (1997-10-01) 1 October 1997 (age 27) 136 279 Saracens
BK Amy Wilson-Hardy (1991-09-13) 13 September 1991 (age 33) 243 370 Wasps
FW Lisa Thomson (1997-07-07) 7 July 1997 (age 27) 128 121 Melrose
BK Ellie Boatman (1997-05-13) 13 May 1997 (age 27) 58 145 Wasps
Jade Shekells (1996-09-28) 28 September 1996 (age 28) 61 40

Notes

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  1. ^ At the time of the third event, Great Britain were sixth on the overall women's series standings, sitting above Brazil, Spain, Ireland and Canada.[18]

References

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  1. ^ "Fiji – Great Britain". world.rugby. World Rugby. 27 November 2021.
  2. ^ "Dubai Sevens: Great Britain 17–40 United States". World Rugby. 4 December 2021.
  3. ^ "Fluid Fiji defeat Team GB in Olympic rugby sevens bronze medal match". the Guardian. 2021-07-31. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  4. ^ "Great Britain's women clinch world rugby sevens title in Canada". Morning Star. 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2021-10-25.
  5. ^ "Rugby". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  6. ^ "International Board backs British Olympic sevens team". BBC Sport. 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  7. ^ Jack de Menezes (2014-02-06). "No chance of a Team GB in rugby sevens at Rio after IOC and IRB ruling states only one of England, Wales or Scotland can represent Britain". The Independent. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  8. ^ Orchard, Sara (2015-05-12). "Team GB qualify if England make last eight". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  9. ^ "Olympic sevens qualification explained". Scrum Queens. 2015-02-15. Retrieved 2015-05-25.
  10. ^ "World Rugby Sevens: England women seal GB's Olympic place". BBC Sport. 2015-05-23. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  11. ^ Custom byline text:  Stuart Bathgate (29 May 2015). "Team GB rugby sevens side set for Rio Olympics". Herald Scotland. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  12. ^ "Joe Lydon to appoint Great Britain sevens coaches". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  13. ^ a b Rugby Union (4 December 2012). "Only one berth for England, Wales and Scotland to 'qualify' GB team". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  14. ^ "New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Great Britain are the first teams to qualify in women's rugby". Rio 2016. 2015-05-25. Archived from the original on 2015-05-27. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  15. ^ "All systems go for Great Britain Rugby on road to Rio". Eurosport. 2015-05-21. Retrieved 2015-05-29.
  16. ^ Mackay, Duncan (2011-04-14). "Northern Ireland players banned from representing Team GB in rugby sevens at Rio 2016". Insidethegames.biz. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
  17. ^ "HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 schedule unveiled". World Rugby. 12 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Women's Standings". world.rugby. World Rugby. Archived from the original on 5 December 2021.
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