Rugby Sevens: Scots trio help Team GB win European gold and land Olympic place

Scots Shona Campbell, Rhona Lloyd and Lisa Thomson helped Great Britain’s women win gold in the rugby sevens at the European Games on Tuesday night while the men’s squad earned a silver medal.

Shona Campbell in action for Team GB Womens Rugby 7's at the 2023 European Games in Wroclaw, Poland. Photo by Team GB / Sam Mellish

The women’s result means they have now secured a place at the Paris Olympics next year while the men still have a chance to make the main event via a repechage event.

As well as the three players mentioned, Scot Ciaran Beattie is head coach of the women’s squad while captain Robbie Fergusson, Jamie Farndale, Ross McCann, Femi Sofolarin, Kaleem Barreto and Max McFarland were all in the men’s squad and Scott Riddell and Sean Lamont were part of the overall backroom team.

In the women’s event in the Henryk Reyman’s Municipal Stadium in Kraków, Poland, Great Britain defeated the hosts 33-0 in the final to lift the title.

All three Scots came off the bench for a golden moment and Lloyd even got among the scorers with a try. Czechia took bronze.

To get to the semi-final stage at the start of day three, Great Britain had topped a Pool containing Norway, Italy and Czechia on days one and two. Then on day two they won a quarter-final against Germany 53-0.

On Tuesday they played Belgium in the semi-finals. The match started in the morning, but finished in the afternoon after there was a long delay due to an issue with the posts at one end of the ground.

When play resumed, Campbell ended up leading the way with two tries as Great Britain pulled away to win 36-12 and set them up for their winning moment later on.

Meanwhile, to get to the semi-final stage at the start of day three, Great Britain’s men had won three from three in the Pool stages on day one and two against Romania, Lithuania and Portugal.

They then got the better of Germany 14-10 in a tight quarter-final late on day two. Tuesday started with a semi-final win over Spain, McFarland and Farndale among the try scorers as Great Britain won 19-7.

Ireland were just too good in the final, winning 26-12, while Spain took bronze.