The Rugby Football Union (RFU), the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) and the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) will be funded by the UK National Lottery for the 2021 season.
The National Lottery promotional fund will ensure that both the men’s and women’s GB teams will be able to compete in the HSBC World Sevens tournament in the build-up to the delayed Tokyo Olympics in the summer.
“We’re delighted to have secured this partnership with The National Lottery and thank National Lottery players,” RFU Performance Director, Conor O’Shea, said. “This is a great opportunity for GB Sevens and vital preparation ahead of next summer’s Olympic Games.
“We’re very grateful to the individual Unions and their partners for their co-operation, understanding and continued support. We know the current uncertain circumstances mean there will likely be challenges along the way but we’re very much looking forward to developing our plans further.”
Through the partnership, National Lottery players will be entitled to tickets to events and other opportunities with the GB Sevens teams.
Additionally, no money allocated for National Lottery Good Causes or by Camelot is being used to fund the teams.
Chief Executive of National Lottery operator Camelot, Nigel Railton, commented: “Every day The National Lottery and its players make a huge difference to communities across the UK – and have been doing so since 1994.
“This clever partnership demonstrates how by working together we can have a real impact on a sport and boost the chances of gold in Tokyo next summer. The loss of spectators and cancellation of events has had such an impact on various sports I am proud that we are able to support the GB Sevens programme after a difficult year.”
