Krakow 2023: The song of champions with rugby sevens' Rhona Lloyd

Krakow 2023 28 Jun 23

If you were on the streets of Krakow last night, you will have heard the sweet sound of Team GB's Rhona Lloyd singing her heart out.

Lloyd, 26, was part of the women's rugby sevens team that flew to an incredible 33-0 victory over hosts Poland in the final of the 2023 European Games, securing a gold medal and quota spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in the process.

Undefeated throughout the entirety of their European Games campaign, the squad weathered a close call during their semi-final performance against Belgium but powered through to secure their place in the gold medal match.

And with a roaring final victory, Lloyd's infamous DJ skills were at the forefront of the celebrations as the team returned to the athlete's village with full hearts and in full song.

"We're just buzzing," said Lloyd.

"We knew that we were the favourite going into this tournament, but I think we got a wake-up call during the semi-final against Belgium when it was 12-12 at half time.

"So, for us to refocus and produce that performance in the final was everything that we wanted to do.

"And we definitely enjoyed it last night. There were so many family and friends there so it was lovely to celebrate together after a challenging year.

"We've always got music on and we're always singing off the pitch anyway.

"I'm usually the DJ and the girls often say that the song choices can be quite biased since I'm Scottish, there are a lot of bagpipes in there, but I love it."

Emma Uren broke the stalemate against Poland after three minutes, darting down the right channel and fending off the would-be tacklers for the first try of the game.

And Great Britain only continued to press from there, with Lloyd making instant impact off the bench in the second half and Meg Jones adding her second try of the game to seal the deal.

"Our strength is within that whole 13 and that's our advantage over the other teams here," she said.

"It's doesn't matter who's starting and who's finishing, everybody had a job to do, and we were managed so well throughout the whole weekend.

"My deal is that our other winger tires them out and then I get to come on and do the fun bit which really worked in the final."

With victory in the bag, the women's sevens finally secured their quota place for Team GB at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The team had narrowly missed out on clinching a spot during the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series earlier in the year, making it an emotional moment for the squad as the full-time whilst blew in Krakow.

And after getting her first taste of Team GB multi-sport action, Lloyd is now hellbent on securing her ticket on the plane to Paris next year.

"This whole year has been about getting that qualification for Paris and we want girls in Britain to see GB compete at the Olympics and on the world's biggest stage," she said.

"Women's rugby is still growing and that's what makes it so important to get GB there and I'm so pleased we've done that now.

"We know we're going to Paris!

"I missed out on Tokyo so it means a lot to me as well and I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that I'm going.

"We're such a competition squad and we're always pushing each other to do better.

"Being at a multi-sport event is so special and we never get to go to the Opening Ceremony because of when rugby runs in the programme, so getting to do that together at the European Games meant a lot.

"You really see what Team GB is all about and it makes you so proud to see those flags amongst the other nations."

Sportsbeat 2023

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