Amor takes charge of GB Sevens
England Sevens head coach Simon Amor will take charge of Great Britain's Sevens team ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympics Games.
Amor will take the position of head coach for the men's setup with Gareth Williams joining him as assistant coach. Both are currently head coaches for England and Wales men’s sides respectively.
Amor, the former England sevens captain, has been in charge of his national team for the last two seasons which has seen them finish in the top four of the World Rugby Sevens Series rankings on both occasions. Last season's final position of fourth ensured Great Britain was one of first four teams to qualify for Rio 2016.
Williams, who played over a decade on the international sevens circuit, took over as head coach of the Wales squad in 2014 having previously been assistant coach since 2008. He played for Carmarthen Quins and Llandovery and was also a member of the Scarlets side which won the Celtic League title in the first year of regional rugby in Wales.
Candidates nominated from all three unions were involved in a series of interviews in front of a selection panel including Stephen Gemmell (SRU), Josh Lewsey (WRU), Joe Lydon (RRU) and Mahdi Choudhury (British Olympic Association).
Amor described the build up to the Olympics as a massive challenge.
"I am incredibly honoured and privileged to be appointed as head coach of the GB Sevens team. It will be a massive challenge but a huge opportunity. However with a lot of effort, common sense and working together across the unions we can get a team ready that can be very successful next year in Rio.
"It is great to have Gareth alongside me. He has seven years experience behind him on the world series and he was assistant coach for Wales when they won the World Cup Sevens. He has also made a real impact on the Wales team as head coach as well. It is important we have a blend of unions in the management to create the 'GB' feel and to maximise the strengths of the home nations.
"I will, along with Gareth, meet the players and coaches from the other home nations. But the priority is to understand where we can get this Great Britain team preparing and playing in competition which is critical," said Amor.
Williams said is looking forward to the opportunity of working with Amor.
"To be selected as assistant coach for GB Sevens men is a massive honour and something I am really excited about. I've enjoyed working against Simon [Amor] on the World Series and now to get an opportunity to work alongside him is something I am looking forward to with relish.
"He is very competitive and I admire the way he sets his teams up. We have a huge challenge in front us but I'm prepared to tackle it head on as we prepare to take a competitive team to the Olympics."
GB Rugby Sevens performance manager Joe Lydon said: "We are excited to have excellent and talented coaches on board to take the programme forward. The selection panel carefully considered the nominated coaches from all of the unions involved in what was a thorough and open process.
"We now look forward to seeing the coaches influence the programmes as our plans begin to take shape and squads formed as we head into the season and then into the Games in Rio next summer.
“The is no doubt we have some challenges ahead of us but these are exceeded by the unique opportunities as we look to assemble squads from across the three unions. Our focus turns to the identifying and selecting the best possible blend of GB qualified players. The coaches will be looking to players already in their national sevens setup as well as those the 15s game who have gained international sevens experience."
The main preparation with the players as a wider squad will begin from June 2016 through a series of training camps, with a final squad of 12 players selected in July 2016 just prior to the start of the Olympic Games. Eligible players for selection should have played Sevens 14 months prior to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on either the World Rugby Sevens Series, Rugby Europe International Sevens tournaments or an invitational preparation tournament.
