‘Complex’ GB have fingers crossed for Olympics

Great Britain coach Simon Amor said he was hopeful of making a strong showing at the Olympics despite a tough build-up with the squad still undecided and only coming together in May.

Amor, speaking at the Hong Kong Sevens, said the situation was “complex” for Great Britain, which can only get its players together after the sevens world series.

Officials are also still negotiating the release of top 15-a-side players, meaning the make-up of the eventual team remains very much up in the air.

Amor, who coached England to the Hong Kong quarter-finals, gave a bitter laugh when asked if he would have liked to have had a longer build-up.

“I’m sorry, I thought you were doing that as a bit of a joke,” he told reporters. “Of course it would, the longer you can get guys together, the better.

“But that’s the difficulty that we face, it’s a complex situation. But what’s amazing is the desire from all the unions to really give it our best.”

Great Britain will be made up of players from England, Wales and Scotland, who are all competing on the 10-stop sevens world series which wraps up in London in May.

The expanded Olympic squad will gather the following week, with the final group of players not expected to be named until mid-July — about three weeks before the Games.

Wales coach Gareth Williams, who will be Amor’s assistant for the British team, said he was unconcerned despite the challenges ahead.

“It is a challenge, it is different from what each and every other nation have the opportunity to do but we’ve got a number of tournaments which we’ll use to develop the group,” he said.

“I think it’s bothering other people more than it’s bothering us at the moment.

“To be honest, it’s going to be exciting to get into a totally brand new environment, something that’s never been done on the world series or within sevens, and we’ll see where we go with it.”

Amor said he had his “fingers crossed” that some of Britain’s 15-a-side specialists would be available, although negotiations are still ongoing.

Other teams such as New Zealand, South Africa and Australia have already started integrating 15s players, a difficult process because of sevens’ fitness and technical demands.

“It’s a combination of guys we’ll be looking at right through the season, from the England, Scotland and Wales sevens specific teams,” Amor said.

“And we’re also trying to get some of the 15-a-side guys that have really ripped it up for their international teams and their clubs over the last season.

“It’ll be an exciting blend, it’ll be a challenging one but an intense programme gives us a good opportunity to give it our very best.”
Source: AFP