Great Britain women's national rugby sevens team explained

Country:Great Britain
Union:British Olympic Association
Captain:Abbie Brown
Coach:Nick Wakley
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First: 3–29
(6 August 2016; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
Bigwin: 50–5
(26 September 2021; Edmonton, Canada)
Bigloss: 33–10
(8 August 2016, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
28–5
(27 November 2021, Dubai, UAE)[1]
40–17
(4 December 2021, Dubai, UAE)[2]
Sevens:yes

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

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

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.

Tournament record

World Rugby Sevens Series

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]

Summer Olympics

Olympic Games record
Year Round Position
Third-place playoff 4th 6 4 2 0
Third-place playoff 4th 6 3 3 0
Seventh-place playoff 7th 6 3 3 0
Total 0 Titles 3/3 18 10 8 0

Squad

Sevens Series squad

!scope="col" style="width:20%"
PlayerDate of birth (age)MatchesPoints
Rhona Lloyd1996 10, df=y89295 Stade Bordelais
BK Jasmine Joyce1995 10, df=y114 410 Bristol Bears
BK Shona Campbell2001 6, df=y7145 Edinburgh University
BK Abbie Brown1996 4, df=y211329 Bristol Bears
Isla Norman-Bell2000 2, df=y69150
BK Heather Cowell1996 1, df=y87163 Harlequins
Lauren Torley1999 9, df=y355
BK Grace Crompton2001 10, df=y69185 Bristol Bears
BK Emma Uren1997 10, df=y136279 Saracens
BK Amy Wilson-Hardy1991 9, df=y243370 Wasps
FW Lisa Thomson1997 7, df=y128121 Melrose
BK Ellie Boatman1997 5, df=y58145 Wasps
Jade Shekells1996 9, df=y6140

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Fiji – Great Britain . 27 November 2021 . world.rugby . World Rugby .
  2. Web site: Dubai Sevens: Great Britain 17–40 United States . World Rugby . 4 December 2021.
  3. Web site: 2021-07-31. Fluid Fiji defeat Team GB in Olympic rugby sevens bronze medal match. 2021-10-25. the Guardian. en.
  4. Web site: 2021-09-27. Great Britain's women clinch world rugby sevens title in Canada. 2021-10-25. Morning Star. en.
  5. Web site: Rugby . Rio 2016 . 2015-05-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120801090354/http://rio2016.com/en/the-games/olympic/sports/rugby . 2012-08-01 .
  6. Web site: International Board backs British Olympic sevens team . BBC Sport . 2011-04-06 . 2015-05-23.
  7. News: Jack de Menezes . 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 . 2014-02-06 . 2015-05-23.
  8. Web site: Orchard . Sara . Team GB qualify if England make last eight . BBC Sport . 2015-05-12 . 2015-05-23.
  9. Web site: Olympic sevens qualification explained . Scrum Queens. 2015-02-15 . 2015-05-25.
  10. Web site: World Rugby Sevens: England women seal GB's Olympic place . BBC Sport . 2015-05-23 . 2015-05-23.
  11. Web site: Custom byline text:  Stuart Bathgate . Team GB rugby sevens side set for Rio Olympics . Herald Scotland . 29 May 2015 . 2015-05-29.
  12. Web site: Joe Lydon to appoint Great Britain sevens coaches . Sky Sports . 2015-05-29.
  13. Web site: Rugby Union . Only one berth for England, Wales and Scotland to 'qualify' GB team . Telegraph . 4 December 2012 . 2015-05-23.
  14. Web site: New Zealand, Canada, Australia and Great Britain are the first teams to qualify in women's rugby . Rio 2016 . 2015-05-25 . 2015-05-23 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150527020647/http://www.rio2016.com/en/news/news/new-zealand-canada-australia-and-great-britain-are-the-first-teams-to-qualify-in-womens-ru . 2015-05-27 .
  15. Web site: All systems go for Great Britain Rugby on road to Rio . Eurosport . 2015-05-21 . 2015-05-29.
  16. Web site: Mackay . Duncan . Northern Ireland players banned from representing Team GB in rugby sevens at Rio 2016 . Insidethegames.biz . 2011-04-14 . 2015-05-23.
  17. Web site: HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022 schedule unveiled . 12 October 2021 . .