STATE OF PLAY

Uncertain futures on the SVNS series, funding issues and the small matter of the Olympics - former captain TOM MITCHELL looks at what's going on with Team GB

- TOM MITCHELL

IN A TUESDAY I’ll get up at 4am and go to Glasgow airport. 6am flight to Heathrow, travel to Hazlewood, do a double rugby day and finish at 6pm.”

A typical start to a Great Britain training camp for Robbie Fergusson. Similarly, Max McFarland would take a 4am bus to Belfast airport, fly to Glasgow and catch a taxi to Largs to make a 9am team meeting when camps were based in Scotland.

Arrangements like this don’t exactly support high-performance training.

However, this year, without a full time set-up and permanent base, logistics like these aren’t uncommon.

“Four of us Scottish boys stayed in an Airbnb in Wembley. That didn’t mean much to me until I went on Citymapper and saw it was 180 minutes from training. A 30-minute walk, three trains, an underground and a 25-minute walk the other side.”

Budget constraints dictated that price tags would dominate decision-making in this year’s sevens programme.

A WHISTLESTOP HISTORY OF GB SEVENS

May 2015 Great Britain Rugby Sevens Ltd is incorporated at Companies House.
June 2016 The pioneer players assemble as the first Great Britain squads are formed in preparation for the Rio Olympics.
Aug 2016 The men and women return from Brazil after coming second and fourth respectively. The programme is shelved.
Dec 2016 The players return to the HSBC World Series under England, Scotland and Wales. This continues for four years.