WALES rugby international Hannah Jones, of Brynamman, has seen her hard work during lockdown pay off - with selection for the Great Britain Sevens’ training squad for the forthcoming campaign.

The 24 year-old, a former pupil at Amman Valley Comprehensive School, has senior caps in both the 15-player code, and in sevens - and hopes to represent Team GB at this year’s Tokyo Olympics.

Jones created a home gym at the start of lockdown, whilst completing her PGCE teacher training largely from home, but she was relieved to get back playing for Hartpury-Gloucester this season.

"I used the additional time at home to try to be in better shape going back into training than when we went into lockdown,” said Jones, a former captain of Pontarddulais Ladies, now making a name for herself in the Allianz Premier 15s.

“The thought of the Olympics and the Rugby World Cup were a key motivation for me throughout the past year, I’ve put 100 per cent into making sure I’m in the best possible position, and I’ve had great support every step of the way.

“I made sure I had everything I needed, and the support I’ve had from WRU staff has been superb for things like tailored running sessions and nutrition; I’ve even bought a sled with weights and have been training at Brynamman RFC whenever possible.

“I’m currently based at Bishopston Comprehensive School on the Gower for my PGCE, and it was great to have five or six weeks in school to get to know the pupils - but since then everything has been online, so I train before and after the school day.

“At Hartpury-Gloucester, everything is in place to make training and playing as safe as possible, and I love playing for Liza Burgess and Sean Lynn.”

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.

Some 16 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 the only other Welsh player, 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 now have the opportunity to build something special as a group.

“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.”