Team GB’s preparations for women’s sevens gold at Rio 2016 have started in earnest with players from Wales, Scotland and England coming together for a three-month training programme in Guildford.
The Welsh Rugby Union and Scottish Rugby Union have nominated two players each to join England’s training base at Surrey Sports Park to train full-time.
Laurie Harries (pictured above) and Jasmine Joyce from Wales and Stephanie Johnston and Megan Gaffney from Scotland have joined England’s squad of 19 full-time professionals. They will train together four days a week while also competing in three training tournaments, including one in Spain and one in Dubai, before the end of the year.
GB Women’s Sevens head coach Simon Middleton said: “It is fantastic to bring the players from England, Scotland and Wales together for an intense period of time. This is going to be a really important stage in the squad’s development as we give the players a chance to get to know each other, bond and learn and develop from each other.
“I have been very impressed with what I have seen so far, and I will be looking forward to seeing how they go come competition time.”
Harries joins the GB training camp as an integral member of the Wales sevens and 15s programme while Joyce burst on to the sevens scene last year when making her debut in Dubai on the wing.
Johnston has captained Scotland Sevens previously and run out in the Six Nations while Gaffney has previously represented GB Sevens at the World Student Games.
Team GB secured their place at Rio 2016, where men’s and women’s sevens will make their Olympic debuts, after England finished fourth in the 2014-15 World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series behind champions New Zealand, Canada and Australia.