Wales international duo Jasmine Joyce and Kayleigh Powell have left the Welsh Rugby Union's full-time 15s programme to pursue Sevens opportunities for the rest of the season as Great Britain bid to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Wing sensation Joyce, 27, and full-back Powell, 23, have been called up for GB by head coach Nick Wakley ahead of the Sevens World Series events, with the December calendar seeing tournaments staged in Dubai and in Cape Town and seven in total from December to May next year.
The announcement comes two weeks after Wales returned home from the Women's Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, where Joyce and Powell were pivotal in seeing Ioan Cunningham's side reach the quarter-finals before being knocked out by eventual winners Black Ferns. It means Joyce and Powell are unlikely to play a part in next spring's Women's Six Nations, with GB due to be in Hong Kong when Wales Women face Scotland on April 1, 2023.
