Four named in GB Sevens squads

Four Saracens have been selected in GB Sevens’ initial training squads for the forthcoming campaign.

Senior Academy wing Ben Harris has been named in the Men’s squad while Holly Aitchison, Deborah Fleming and Emma Uren are in the Women’s.

Made possible by an innovative commercial partnership with The National Lottery, GB7s will operate a banded pay structure which will give equal opportunities across both the men’s and women’s programmes to be financially rewarded at the same level.

Both teams will be based at Loughborough University with their first camps set to take place in March ahead of their pre-Olympic tournaments in the lead up to July and the HSBC World Sevens Series 2021, details of which will be announced in due course.

The partnership with The National Lottery is funded from a National Lottery promotional fund. It is not being funded by money allocated for National Lottery Good Causes or by Camelot.

Team leader Charlie Hayter said: “Naming the two squads is a significant milestone for the GB7s programme.

“The collaboration across all three unions and their respective partners has been brilliant to get us to this stage in a short amount of time. I would also like to thank the clubs for their support in allowing players to follow their short-term ambitions of competing at an Olympic Games.

“We are delighted to be able to confirm an equal pay structure up to the Olympics, and are, of course, grateful to the National Lottery for their fantastic support.

“While we are extremely pleased to be able to confirm our squads, the door is not closed for any player and we will continue to monitor all players’ progress over the coming months.

“We are excited to get players and staff on the ground in March as we take our next steps as a programme.”

GB Sevens squads

GB Sevens Men
Dan Bibby
Tom Bowen
Phil Burgess
Richard de Carpentier
Alec Coombes (Edinburgh)
Alex Davis
Tom Emery (Coventry)
Jamie Farndale (Edinburgh)
Robbie Fergusson (Glasgow Warriors)
Ben Harris (Saracens)
Paddy Kelly (Glasgow Warriors)
Ollie Lindsay-Hague
Ross McCann
Max McFarland
Tom Mitchell
Luke Morgan (Ospreys)
Will Muir (Bath)
Dan Norton
Luke Treharne
Ethan Waddleton
Morgan Williams

GB Sevens Women
Holly Aitchison (Saracens Women)
Abbie Brown (Loughborough Lightning)
Abi Burton (Wasps FC Ladies)
Heather Fisher (Worcester Warriors Women)
Deborah Fleming (Saracens Women)
Megan Gaffney (Scotland Women’s Performance Programme)
Hannah Jones (Gloucester-Hartpury)
Megan Jones (Wasps FC Ladies)
Jasmine Joyce (Bristol Bears Women)
Rhona Lloyd (Loughborough Lightning)
Alex Matthews (Worcester Warriors Women)
Helen Nelson (Loughborough Lightning)
Celia Quansah (Wasps FC Ladies)
Chloe Rollie (Harlequins Women)
Helena Rowland (Loughborough Lightning)
Hannah Smith (Scotland Women’s Performance Programme)
Lisa Thomson (Scotland Women’s Performance Programme)
Emma Uren (Saracens Women)
Amy Wilson Hardy (Wasps FC Ladies)