Great Britain national rugby sevens team
 | |||
| Union | British Olympic Association | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Coach(es) | Simon Amor | ||
| Captain(s) | Tom Mitchell | ||
| |||
| 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) | |||
The Great Britain national rugby sevens team is the men's Olympic representative team of Great Britain at the rugby sevens tournament at the Summer Olympic Games. After having played at the World Games in 2001 and 2005,[1] they made their Olympic debut at the 2016 Summer Olympics, where they won the silver medal, losing the final to Fiji.
Olympic history
When rugby sevens was admitted to the Summer Olympics in 2009,[2] it was not initially known how Great Britain could qualify.[3] As England, Wales and Scotland; three of the nations that make up Great Britain 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.[4] 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.[5] England secured Great Britain's qualification to the 2016 Summer Olympics by finishing fourth in the 2015 Sevens World Series.[6][7]
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 similar to the British and Irish Lions in rugby union.[8] 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) demanded that they only play for the Ireland national rugby sevens team as rugby in Ireland is organised on an All-Ireland basis.[9] However, it was stated that Northern Irish and Ulster contracted players could legally challenge that determination, particularly if Ireland failed to qualify.[8]
Tournament history
Summer Olympics
| Olympic Rugby 7s | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Round | Position | Pld | W | L | D | |||
 2016 |
Final |  | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 Titles | 1/1 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | |||
World Games
| 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 | |||
Current squad
The following is the Great Britain roster in the men's rugby sevens tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics.[10]
Head coach: Simon Amor
| # | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Events | Points | Union |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FW | Mark Robertson | 30 December 1984 (aged 31) | 47 | 426 | Unattached |
| 2 | BK | Ruaridh McConnochie | 23 October 1991 (aged 24) | 9 | 45 | Unattached |
| 3 | FW | Phil Burgess | 01 July 1988 (aged 28) | 22 | 212 | Unattached |
| 4 | BK | Dan Norton | 22 March 1988 (aged 28) | 57 | 1,064 | Unattached |
| 5 | FW | James Rodwell | 23 August 1984 (aged 31) | 69 | 445 | Unattached |
| 6 | BK | Tom Mitchell (c) | 22 July 1989 (aged 27) | 34 | 897 |  Harlequin |
| 7 | BK | Dan Bibby | 06 February 1991 (aged 25) | 25 | 321 | Unattached |
| 8 | FW | James Davies | 25 October 1990 (aged 25) | 14 | 180 |  Scarlets |
| 9 | BK | Ollie Lindsay-Hague | 08 October 1990 (aged 25) | 15 | 110 | Harlequin |
| 10 | FW | Sam Cross | 26 August 1992 (aged 23) | 27 | 170 | Newport |
| 11 | BK | Marcus Watson | 27 June 1991 (aged 25) | 32 | 424 | Newcastle Falcons |
| 12 | BK | Mark Bennett | 03 February 1993 (aged 23) | 2 | 35 |  Glasgow Warriors |
References
- ↑ "Great Britain team named for World Games 7's". ESPN. 2005-07-19. Retrieved 2015-06-01.
- ↑ "Rugby". Rio 2016. 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.
- 1 2 Rugby Union. "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.
- ↑ "Team GB Names 2016 GB Olympic Men's Rugby Team". teamgb.com. 19 July 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
| |