Great Britain squads in for SVNS stop-off in Singapore

Great Britain Sevens have confirmed their men’s and women’s squads that will compete in Singapore this weekend.

Experienced men’s quartet Damien Hoyland, Ethan Waddleton, Rory McHaffie and Ryan Apps have been rotated out for the HSBC SVNS Series stop, allowing Fin Lloyd Gilmour, Callum Woolley, Sunni Jardine, Ross McKnight and Finlay Callaghan to join the squad.

Charlton Kerr will captain the team, which also contains Glasgow Warriors youngster Brent Jackson, and full-time players Josh Radcliffe and Matt Davidson.

The side have been named in Pool A with Fiji, South Africa and Spain.

Ciaran Beattie, Great Britain Sevens Director of Rugby, said: “We’re at the point now where we’re after performance and development, and that performance really has to start coming at this stage.

“We laid it out on the table first thing that we’d rotate the squads and we’d try a few things on and off the park. We believe we’ll be better come the start of the championship in Hong Kong because of it.”

There has also been rotation in the women’s squad. This includes the addition of Millie Hyett, Jenny Hesketh, Evelyn Clarke, Jojo Vosakiwaiwai, Georgie Lingham and Joy Okechukwu.

Chantelle Miell has returned to the squad, which is co-captained by Katie Shillaker and Courtney Greenway.

After two tournaments Great Britain’s women sit at the foot of the women’s standings. The team have only scored 37 points and are yet to register a win across four days of rugby.

They have been named in Pool B with New Zealand, France and Canada.

Beattie said: “We’re really going after some growth and development. There’s a clear mandate for the end of the season to perform, but we need to give ourselves room to breathe and develop.

“We see in the selection for Singapore that Chantelle Miell has come back into it, Eloise Hayward has gotten more caps so more experience will drip in to help those having their first taste of sevens grow massively.”

Great Britain Sevens Men’s Squad

1. Ross McKnight (Edinburgh Rugby Pro Academy)
3. Finlay Callaghan (Scotland Sevens)
4. Roan Frostwick (Scotland Sevens)
5. Marcus Kershaw (Great Britain Sevens)
6. Matt Davidson (Scotland Sevens)
10. Brent Jackson (Glasgow Warriors Pro Academy)
11. Fin Lloyd Gilmour (Great Britan Sevens)
15. Tom Burton (Exeter University)
21. Callum Woolley (Scarlets)
23. Josh Radcliffe (Scotland Sevens)
24. Charlton Kerr (Great Britain Sevens – captain)
25. Luca Bardelli (Ayr)
44. Sunni Jardine (Great Britain Sevens)

Great Britain Sevens Women’s Squad

1. Millie Hyett (Gloucester Hartpury/RFU)
3. Jenny Hesketh (Bristol Bears/WRU)
6. Evelyn Clarke (Loughborough/RFU)
10. Katie Shillaker (Harlequins/RFU – co-captain)
11. Abigail Pritchard(Gloucester Hartpury/RFU)
15. Courtney Greenway (Gwalia Lightning/WRU – co-captain)
17. Chantelle Miell (Saracens/RFU)
19. Jojo Vosakiwaiwai (Harlequins/RFU)
27. Georgie Lingham (Leicester Tigers/RFU)
55. Joia Bennett (Saracens/RFU)
77. Eloise Hayward (WRU – co-captain)
97. Joy Okechukwu (Harlequins/RFU)