Gladiators star Fury tips Ellie Kildunne to lead Team GB Sevens to Olympic glory
The Games do not officially open until Friday night’s ceremony extravaganza on the River Seine but competition in the sevens and the football actually begins on Wednesday.
The men’s rugby sevens competition takes place at the Stade de France today and tomorrow with a concluding medal round at the stadium on Saturday. Thereafter, the women take centre stage with a group stage on Sunday, knockout rounds Monday and the medal rounds on Tuesday evening.
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Hide AdGreat Britain’s women’s team have finished fourth in each of the last two editions of the Olympics since Rugby Sevens was introduced to the programme.


But Dewsbury-born Ounsley, who played for England Sevens and also in the XVs game before becoming Fury in the BBC One reboot of Gladiators, believes they have the team to go at least one better this time around.
“I have to back the GB women’s side,” she told RugbyPass. “But Australia and New Zealand are so strong and are definitely teams to look out for.
"That said, some teams just bring it at the Olympics; teams you might not expect who maybe handle the pressure a bit better than others - Fiji for instance, I love Fiji!”
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Hide AdPart of her belief in Great Britain’s chances stems from the presence of a fellow Yorkshirewoman in the ranks – Keighley’s Ellie Kildunne.


The 24-year-old was the player of the tournament in the women’s Six Nations earlier this year, and played in the World Cup final with England less than two years ago.
But she has temporarily switched to the Sevens format to try and help get Great Britain over the medal hurdle.
“She’s {Ellie] coming back to sevens and she’s going to bring so many fans with her and I know she will make a great impact and be a storm at the Olympics,” said Ounsley. "She will get people talking for sure.”
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Hide AdHowever it shakes out, Ounsley is just happy to see rugby sevens in the prominent shop window of the Olympics.


She said: “If we look back to Rio 2016, we had some huge excitement around the game, but then due to Covid and how things were with lockdowns in Tokyo in 2021, it was of course more subdued.
"But now with the events being in France, I’d like to think we’ll get way more interest in the women’s and the men’s events.
“Ultimately, fans love games with small margins and it’ll only take just one amazing moment to get the fans’ attention. Also with sevens you don’t need to have a massive rugby knowledge to get involved with it or simply watch it.
"It’s fast, exciting and it’s easy to be engaged by it.
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Hide Ad“The Olympics is just the start in my opinion. Like I say, more exposure will really help, especially in countries where they don’t have as much funding or as big an infrastructure for women’s sevens. More broadcasting would be great too and getting just a few more games on TV will simply get the game in front of more people. I also think that more pathways for young girls would help a great deal too.
“The women’s XVs world has completely blown up in the last couple of years. I mean just look at the recent Women’s Six Nations getting record numbers, there’s a big increase in people watching and getting behind the women’s game and this has led to more positive awareness.
“It’s also meant that people are seeing the game for what it is; then you get more sponsors, more opportunities and it grows. My hope is this domino effect continues and we get more women coming from XVs to the sevens and bringing that fanbase with them.”
Great Britain get their campaign underway against Ireland on Sunday afternoon, by which time the men’s medals will have been decided.
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Hide AdThat tournament kicks-off on Wednesday with hosts France – who are in the same pool as 2016 and 2020 gold medallists Fiji – in action against the United States.
Fiji and France will be expecting stern competition from Australia, Argentina and New Zealand for the medals.
Ireland feature XVs international Hugo Keenan and Connacht’s Andrew Smith following their reintegration back into the sevens programme and will also hope to be in the mix for medals.
But Great Britain, silver medallists eight years ago, are absent after losing to South Africa at last month’s repechage final in Monaco.
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Hide AdFormer World Cup winner Bryan Habana is backing France thanks to the impact of Antoine Dupont, a star of last year’s World Cup who skipped this year’s Six Nations to focus on the Olympics.
“Antoine is a guy that is absolutely box office in every way possible,” said Habana. “The seamlessness which he has made the transition has been absolutely brilliant.”