SCOTT FORREST has selected six Scots in his 24 player Team GB 7s Women training squad which will meet in Edinburgh this week to begin preparation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with further camps planned in Wales and England in April.
Megan Gaffney, Rhona Lloyd, Helen Nelson, Chloe Rollie, Hannah Smith and Lisa Thomson have been given an opportunity to compete for one of 13 available seats on the plane to Japan in July. There is 15 English players and three Welsh players in the training squad.
“It’s very exciting to name this initial training squad. It has a lot of potential with some world class athletes selected,” said Forrest, who represented and captained Scotland for several years on the World Rugby HSBC Sevens Series circuit and at the 2010 Commonwealth Games, and has since fulfilled a number of coaching roles for Scottish Rugby.
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“I have been able to spend a decent amount of time with the English players and staff in their environment. With them being the one full-time squad competing on the World Series, this has been invaluable for me to get to know them better. I obviously know the Scotland 7s team very well and I have had some good conversations with Ollie Philips as well, since his appointment as Wales Women’s 7s coach.
“Selection has been competitive, and I believe that we have a strong core group here. We will go into the first training weekend with a focus on creating the culture, developing a team identity and building relationships.
“It is great to be able to have the initial training weekends in Scotland, England and Wales. I think that is really important to create the right culture and the understanding of what it means to be part of Team GB.”
GB 7s Women’s Training Squad: Holly Aitchison (England), Keira Bevan (Wales), Abbie Brown (England), Abi Burton (England), Heather Fisher (England), Deborah Fleming (England), Megan Gaffney (Scotland), Sydney Gregson (England), Hannah Jones (Wales), Meg Jones (England), Jasmine Joyce (Wales), Ellie Kildunne (England), Rhona Lloyd (Scotland), Alex Matthews (England), Helen Nelson (Scotland), Jodie Ounsley (England), Celia Quansah (England), Chloe Rollie (Scotland), Helena Rowland (England), Hannah Smith (Scotland), Lisa Thomson (Scotland), Emma Uren (England), Beth Wilcock (England), Amy Wilson Hardy (England).
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