Great Britain national rugby sevens team
 | This article needs to be updated. The reason given is: The article is missing information about the 2020 Olympics. (September 2021) |
 | |||
| Union | British Olympic Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach(es) | Tony Roques | ||
| Captain(s) | Robbie Fergusson | ||
| |||
| First international | |||
 Australia 21–0 Great Britain  (25 August 2001) | |||
| Largest win | |||
Great Britain 43–0 Poland  (9 July 2016) | |||
| Largest defeat | |||
 South Africa 52–0 Great Britain (23 June 2005) | |||
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Olympic Games | ||
 |
2016 Rio de Janeiro | Team |
| European Games | ||
|
2023 Kraków–Małopolska | Team |
The Great Britain men's national rugby sevens team is the men's international rugby 7s team that is the representative team of Great Britain. The team competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series as well as the Olympic Games and European Games. Historically, Great Britain was represented in rugby 7s by England, Scotland and Wales but the inclusion of Rugby 7s at the Olympic and European Games, together with funding issues has resulted in the formation of a permanent combined team from 2023.[1] The separate England, Scotland and Wales teams play in the Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.
After first having played at the World Games in 2001 and 2005,[2] Great Britain made their debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where they won the silver medal, losing the final to Fiji.
History
[edit]When rugby sevens was admitted to the Summer Olympics in 2009,[3] it was not initially known how Great Britain could qualify.[4] As the three nations that make up Great Britain, England, Wales and Scotland, all compete separately in international competition, it was suggested that if any of them gained a qualifying spot then Great Britain would qualify. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Rugby Board (IRB), stated that Great Britain must select a lead nation to be the only one able to gain the qualification spot.[5] The individual British rugby unions selected England to be the lead nation as the Rugby Football Union was the only British union to fund a full-time rugby sevens programme.[6] England secured Great Britain's qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing fourth in the 2015 Sevens World Series.[7][8]
Wales rugby sevens winger Lloyd Lewis has said that the decision to combine three nations to form GB sevens teams will limit players' opportunities. He added that a GB team means that there will be more competition for places and less availability for Welsh players.[9]
Eligibility
[edit]While England was the team that qualified Great Britain for the 2016 Olympics, the Great Britain national rugby sevens team is able to select players from Wales and Scotland as well as England similar to the British and Irish Lions in rugby union.[10] Northern Irish players according to the British Olympic Association's rules as British citizens would have been eligible to play for Great Britain; however the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) controversially ruled that Northern Ireland players would be compelled to represent the Ireland national rugby sevens team as rugby in Ireland is organised on an All-Ireland basis.[11] However, it was stated that Northern Irish and Ulster contracted players could legally challenge that determination, particularly if Ireland failed to qualify.[10]
Tournament history
[edit]World Series
[edit]| Season | Position |
|---|---|
| 1999–2021 | Did not participate |
| 2021 | 2nd |
| 2021–22 | 17th |
| 2022–23 | 9th |
| 2023–24 | 8th |
| Total | 4 |
World Games
[edit]| World Games Rugby 7s | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | D | |||
 2001
|
Quarter final | 7 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 0 | |||
 2005
|
Third play-off | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |||
 2009
|
Did not participate | ||||||||
 2013
| |||||||||
| Total | 0 Titles | 2/4 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 0 | |||
Summer Olympic Games
[edit]A silver medal for Great Britain in the 2016 Olympics is a considerable achievement for a team that was only formed ten weeks prior the tournament. Where other teams on the sevens circuit had been preparing two years or longer, Team Great Britain coach Amor only got his players together for the first time on May 30 as England, Wales and Scotland were then competing as separate nations in the World Sevens Series.[12]
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Players
[edit]Current squad
[edit]The following players have been selected to represent Great Britain during the 2023–24 SVNS tournament beginning in December 2023.
Note: Caps reflect the total number of SVNS events competed in as of the 2023 Dubai Sevens.
| Player | Position | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Club/province |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jamie Barden | Forward | 10 September 1999 | 27 | Unattached |
| Kaleem Barreto | Forward | 19 December 1998 | 21 | Unattached |
| Alex Davis | Forward | 3 October 1992 | 38 | Unattached |
| Jamie Farndale | Forward | 21 February 1994 | 57 | Unattached |
| Ross McCann | Forward | 30 October 1997 | 38 | Edinburgh |
| Ethan Waddleton | Forward | 23 November 1996 | 37 | Unattached |
| Morgan Williams | Forward | 28 December 1995 | 37 | Unattached |
| Tom Williams | Forward | 30 July 1996 | 25 | Unattached |
| Matt Davidson | Back | 6 November 1999 | 10 | Unattached |
| Austin Emens | Back | 2002 (age 21–22) | 1 | Bath |
| Tom Emery | Back | 2 July 1998 | 17 | Unattached |
| Robbie Fergusson (c) | Back | 30 August 1993 | 43 | Unattached |
| Harry Glover | Back | 31 December 1995 | 21 | Stade Français |
References
[edit]- ^ "Great Britain sevens: Nations combine for 2023 World Sevens Series". BBC. 2022-07-20.
- ^ "Great Britain team named for World Games 7's". ESPN. 2005-07-19. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
- ^ "Rugby". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 2012-08-01. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ "International Board backs British Olympic sevens team". BBC Sport. 2011-04-06. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Team GB rugby sevens team embark on road to Rio 2016 Olympics". The Telegraph. 2012-08-22. Retrieved 2015-05-24.
- ^ "England seal spot for Team GB at Rio Olympics". BBC Sport. 2015-05-17. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ "USA are rugby sevens worldbeaters – but they may still miss the Olympics". The Guardian. 2014-09-24. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ Birmingham, Andy Baber in (2022-07-31). "Wales stars reveal fears over Team GB plans and admit players will miss out". WalesOnline. Retrieved 2022-09-20.
- ^ a b Rugby Union (4 December 2012). "Only one berth for England, Wales and Scotland to 'qualify' GB team". Telegraph. Retrieved 2015-05-23.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Olympics Daytime". Rio 2016. 11 August 2016. CBC.