Former Great Britain rugby sevens star has delivered a scathing assessment of the state of the national programme, warning that the sport’s decline is “heartbreaking” and leaving a generation of talent unable to fulfill its potential.
Speaking at the London City 7s, the 30-year-old, who helped GB reach the semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, confirmed that the decision to abandon the full-time sevens programme was a key factor in her own retirement from the sport this summer. After the Tokyo Games, she made a brief transition to the 15s format, but found the shift did not match her passion for the short-form game.
“With the sevens programme obviously not really existing anymore, that’s my massive passion,” she said. “I enjoy 15s, but that wasn’t my thing. It’s so sad to see that there are so many amazing players that probably aren’t ever going to be able to fulfil their potential, really, in rugby.”
The state of GB women’s rugby has deteriorated significantly since their fourth-place finish in Tokyo. Following a disastrous 2025-26 campaign that saw the team finish last in every leg of the SVNS World Series and 11th in the SVNS World Championship, the side has been relegated to the second division. This leaves their hopes of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics hanging by a thread.
The retired international insisted that the players should not be held responsible for the team’s current lack of competitiveness. Citing her own experience leading into the Paris 2024 cycle—which she ultimately missed due to an injury-plagued build-up—she highlighted the lack of cohesion as the primary culprit.
“GB have just got uncompetitive,” she noted. “It is a real shame, and I think a lot of people don’t know what’s happening behind the scenes. The spectators think, ‘Oh, why are GB doing so badly?’ and it’s like, if only you knew. Even leading into the Paris Olympics, we were barely together. It was like a part-time programme. We would literally train as individual athletes, coming together a week before a tournament and expecting to go and medal. It’s not going to happen.”
Comparing the current uncertainty to the “dream” of being a full-time athlete, she expressed deep sympathy for the current squad, who now face the daunting task of winning the European qualifiers to secure an Olympic spot.
“If they don’t make it, you can’t blame them,” she added. “Maybe someone comes in with some big funding and they’re like, ‘Yeah, we can put a full-time programme together again.’ I feel like it’s probably unlikely, but we can hope.”
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