PEMBROKESHIRE’S rugby international Jasmine Joyce has been selected for the Great Britain Rugby Sevens’ training squad for the forthcoming campaign - which includes the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

The 25-year-old, who plays for Bristol Bears in the Allianz Premier 15s, has senior caps in both the 15-player code, and in sevens – and hopes to represent Team GB at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

“I’m so excited to be back involved,” said Joyce, who is from St Davids, and played for Haverfordwest and Scarlets, before representing Wales in both the Six Nations and the World Sevens circuit.

“Obviously the postponement of the Olympics last year was a huge disappointment, but we are very grateful to have the opportunity to train and play during these difficult times for everyone.”

The 2021 HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series starts in France with back-to-back events in Marcoussis and Paris on 15-16 and 22-23 May, before taking a break for the countdown to the Olympic Games.

The Women’s Series will recommence in Hong Kong on 5-7 November, followed by Dubai on 3-4 December, and finally an exciting climax in Cape Town, South Africa on 10-12 December.

GB Sevens’ Women’s head coach Scott Forrest has selected a group of 19 players, which features some experienced names from the HSBC World Sevens Series and at international XVs level.

Sixteen members of the squad have played club rugby in the Allianz Premier 15s this season, and four played in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which includes Pembrokeshire's Jasmine Joyce.

The squad will be based at Loughborough University, with their first camps taking place in March, ahead of their pre-Olympic tournaments in the lead up to July and the HSBC World Sevens Series.

Forrest said: “We appreciate that all of the squad have been playing regular rugby over the last year, which is a massive strength of our team, and we have the opportunity to build something special.

“We feel we’ve got a really good mix of experience from the last Olympic Games, World Series, as well as international rugby, but at the same time it’s a very fresh squad, which is exciting.

“We know there will be challenges of balancing preparations for Tokyo and the 2021 Rugby World Cup, and we are working with individual players and all unions to ensure all parties achieve peak performance – with player well-being of paramount importance.”