Hollie Williamson: The self-confessed sevens fanatic who is ready to realise her dream
Great Britain's Women will face Canada, Japan and Australia in the pool stages
©Photo by Alex Ho / World Rugby
Hollie Williamson is ready to embrace the occasion as she prepares for her GB 7s debut at the HSBC SVNS Series in Dubai this weekend.
She is one of 11 debutants named by GB 7s Women - a young developmental squad which is still rebuilding following changes to the programme’s contracts at the end of July 2025.
Yet Williamson finds herself in a unique position. Though this will be her first tournament, she heads into the weekend as one of the more senior players in the squad, having overcome a long and injury-hit journey to reach this point.
A multi-event 100m hurdles specialist, she once dreamed of representing her country in athletics, but eventually fell out of love with the sport and stepped away from it altogether.
"When you’ve lived and breathed a sport, you go through a grieving period when you step back from it," Williamson explains. "With starting rugby, I think I was just grateful at the time to pick up a sport that I loved again. I just wanted to run fast and have fun with my friends."
Well, she is certainly doing that now.
Her rugby potential was quickly recognised, first by Worcester Warriors and more recently by Premiership Women’s Rugby side Ealing Trailfinders, while her Sevens pedigree dates back to 2024 when she was scouted at Melrose 7s.
She now plays her 15s rugby with Richmond RFC, a Championship side that has previously produced GB 7s talent, most recently Emma Mundy.
Her progress, however, has been punctuated by several injuries - including an ACL rupture - that she has had to overcome to get to the international stage.
Even when she was selected to represent GB in Hamburg over the summer, a knee injury forced her out. Despite this setback, Williamson is now fully immersed in the SVNS Series environment.
"It’s just so surreal," she tells TRU. "I am a Sevens fanatic and watch every game going. It is mental that I’m going to be stepping onto the same pitch as these players that I’ve followed for years.
"I actually bought myself a postcard after that [Melrose 7s] tournament, and I wrote on the back: ‘This is where it starts now and this is what I want'. From then on, this is something I’ve been working towards.
"We trained with the New Zealand team during the week, and I was scrumming against Jorja Miller [one of the stars of this year's Rugby World Cup]. It got to the end of training, and I was looking around asking if anyone was going to take a picture of us!"
GB begin their pool stage at 08:04am (GMT) against 2024 Olympic silver medalists Canada before clashes with Japan and Australia.
"Canada are quick," Williamson added. "They are strong, and they will be fast at the ruck. It will be a real shock to the system, but a great game to start on.
"They [Japan] will be extremely well drilled, while Australia will be a tough game against a sevens powerhouse side."
Yet Williamson’s overriding emotion is excitement, not concern. She believes the developmental nature of the squad offers freedom as well as opportunity.
"Sevens is a lot about mindset and not giving up, so if we can dial into that, I’m excited to see what happens for us."
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