The two Welsh sevens stars are among a 12-strong squad heading to Las Vegas this week to take part in the Las Vegas Invitational Tournament 3-5 March. They will then travel on to Canada for the Vancouver Rugby Festival, from 10-11 March.
Nine of the squad are from England, with World Cup winning captain Katy McLean, joined by try heroine Danielle Waterman, Rachel Burford, Alex Matthews, Heather Fisher from the victorious team in Paris two years ago. The final player is from Scotland, Stephanie Johnston.
The three Celts have joined a group of 19 full-time England professionals to bid for a place in the final 12 that will become the first British female rugby representatives at the Olympic Games. If either Harries or Joyce makes it they will become the first Welsh rugby participants in the history of the Games.
The dynamic Welsh duo were initially selected to take part in an intensive, three-month sevens rugby programme at Surrey Sports Park earlier in the season as Team GB began preparations for this year’s medal quest.
Harries, 26, has become an integral member of the Wales Women’s programme at both sevens and 15-a-side, while Joyce burst on to the sevens scene as a teenager on the wing in Dubai in 2014. Both players then went on to enhance their growing reputations when Wales claimed seventh spot in the Women’s Sevens World Series qualifiers in Dublin last August.
Former Cardiff Met student Harries, who has played full back and wing for Wales at international level, was the stand-out performer for Wales in the 2015 Six Nations. Pembrokeshire-born Joyce has put her studies at Cardiff Met on hold for a year as she chases her Olympic dream.
Two more former Cardiff Met students are included in the squad heading to North America in World Cup winner Waterman and Fisher.
“These competitions are an integral part of our prep for Rio and give us the chance to see the GB squad in action again, building on from the January training tournament in Souston when the playing combinations started to develop well,” said Team GB Head Coach, Simon Middleton.
“It is also another opportunity for individuals to stake their claim and earn a place within the Olympic squad. It is great to be able to bring a GB squad together in a competitive environment.”
The England squad finished a disappointing seventh in the recent Sao Paulo leg of the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series, giving everyone who plays in Las Vegas and Vancouver a great chance of making a claim for a seat on the plane to Rio.
“In terms of expectations we are again focusing on performance rather than outcomes. We want to see clear development in the cohesion of the squad and also the individual performance levels rising. Playing in front of the big crowds in the stadium in Las Vegas will be another learning experience for the players,” added Middleton.
GB squad for Las Vegas and Vancouver
Abbie Brown, Rachael Burford (captain), Heather Fisher (Las Vegas only), Laurie Harries, Stephanie Johnston, Jasmine Joyce, Alex Matthews, Fran Matthews, Katy Mclean, Emily Scott, Danielle Waterman, Kay Wilson, Amy Wilson Hardy (Vancouver only)
