Great Britain women win World University Championship

The FISU World University Championship for women's rugby sevens has been won by Great Britain for (I think) the first time. A powerful squad packed with internationals breezed to the title with wins over Romania (27-0), Japan (31-5), Spain (24-0); Belgium (26-5); Italy (38-5) and, in the final, hosts France (24-7).

This represented a pretty significant improvement on the last championship in 2010 where GB finished only 7th. The reason for this is that, for the first time, the British unions have taken the tournament seriously and allowed current internationals to take part, as well as releasing England's Susie Appleby to coach the team.

Lead by Emily Scarratt (Leeds Metropolitan), who scored one of their four tries against France, the team included players from universities in England, Scotland and Wales and, as well as Emily, featured players such as Izzy Noel-Smith, Vicky Fleetwood, Sarah McKenna, and Steph Johnston. Vicky and Izzy had also played in 2010, before they became England internationals.

The GB men's team also won their tournament.

Top UK university targets female rugby players

If you are looking at higher education next year then Exeter University wants to hear from you. Officially one of the country's top ten universities, Exeter has a strong rugby tradition - its women's team are already European student women's sevens champions - and on February 17th it will be running a recruitment day aimed specifically at female rugby players.

Director of Women’s Rugby, Mark Tomlinson, said: "This is a pilot project we are running at Exeter with women’s rugby as one of the two chosen sports. Women’s rugby is taken very seriously at Exeter which is shown by it being an important part of the university’s High Performance Programme."

As well as coaching from qualified RFU coaches, state of the art training facilities, medical, strength and conditioning support, there is also the possibility of financial assistance.

The day itself will involve an overview from high performance management personnel, a rugby specific talk, a tour of the sports facilities, a coaching session with the women’s rugby coaches and the opportunity to watch the women’s side in action.

If you would like more information regarding the recruitment day or women’s rugby in general at Exeter University please get in touch with Mark on 07779491098 / m.e.tomlinson@exeter.ac.uk or Charlotte Hale, Athlete Services Manager on 01392-722294/ c.r.hale@exeter.ac.uk.