ELLIE BOATMAN ON TRAILFINDERS WOMENS "BUZZ" AHEAD OF FIRST HOME GAME

Across two seasons playing under Mather at Wasps, Boatman has enjoyed the best spell of her career and now is on the precipice of representing Team GB at an Olympic Games. 

She made her Great Britain debut on the World Sevens Series late in 2021, scoring nine tries on her debut in Seville and has hardly looked back since. 

Selected for England at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2022 Rugby World Cup Sevens, last summer the wing turned her attentions to Olympic qualification last summer with GB. 

After missing out on automatic qualification through the World Series, GB’s shot at redemption could be found in Poland at the European Games held in Kraków-Małopolska where a win would see the team book their place for Paris 2024. 

To get their gold medal, GB blew their opposition out of the water and scored 13 more tries than any other team.

“It was special,” Boatman reflected. “To be honest, such a relief because we had been working towards that all season and didn’t quite make it in the Series, and we knew this was a good opportunity to go and qualify. 

“Not even that, it was a multi-sport games to go and represent GB – just to wear all the Team GB kit, stand on a podium, receive a gold medal, that was such a core memory for me. 

“It was a real nice end to that sevens season to then qualify and know we had achieved out goal of qualifying for the Olympics.” 

What contributed to making their experience in Poland all the sweeter was Boatman’s mother, Rhona, being sat in the stands wearing GB kit and joining in with the team’s celebrations. 

“You don’t realise how invested they (parents) are in the journey and how much you rely on them as well,” Boatman said. 

“Sport is quite a selfish career; I live at home with them and I very much rely on them to help me out daily. 

“They are invested in the journey as well and I don’t think you always realise that as an athlete, that they kind of circle around you, helping you achieve that goal, so it means as much to them as it does to me.” 

Boatman, joined on the pitch two weekends ago by fellow Great Britain 7s players Amy Wilson-Hardy, Emma Uren and Abi Burton, is not just aiming for Olympic glory in her time at Trailfinders. 

All four will be splitting their time between West London and a full-blooded SVNS Series this season, but for now it is the Allianz Cup that takes their focus. 

After a promising debut, the side are looking to a first ever home game on Saturday afternoon against the league champions, Gloucester-Hartpury. 

“There have definitely been some tired bodies this week, that is for sure,” Boatman said. 

“I think there is a little bit of a hangover off the back of the game, and no one has had that stimulus in such a long time. 

“I woke up on Sunday and Monday morning feeling a little bit worse for wear. We have been looking at things that went well, not so well, and analysing that.  

“Next weekend is out first ever home game, so everyone is very much looking forward to that as a new team and hopefully we see some fans as well. It is all gearing up to that game.”