Great Britain Women's Wheelchair Rugby: Sunderland showcase begins with solid win over France

The GB Women's Wheelchair Rugby squad have ignited the action up in Sunderland, with two exhibition matches against France headlining the day's festivities at the Beacon of Light sports centre. Just across the road from the Stadium of Light, which will host England vs USA tomorrow evening, the Great Britain Women's team are taking centre stage with 'Come & Try' sessions and exciting on-court action against the old enemies of France.

Two of the leading nations upon wheelchair rugby's Paralympic stage, this exhibition contest between the two rivals was a friendly match on paper, yet that did not stop the players from channeling the fury of the famous matches known to rugby fans as 'Le Crunch'. It was a strong win for Team GB in the first match of the afternoon, as Great Britain racked up a 42-34 win at the Beacon of Light.

After the match, GB Women's head coach and Paralympic gold medalist Ayaz Bhuta spoke to RUCK about his side's impressive performance. It was one of the first on-court meetings for the Great Britain women's team, with plenty of positive elements to takeaway from the convincing win. GB and France will meet for a re-match this evening at the Beacon of Light, with Bhuta hopeful for more of the same when the action gets underway at 5pm.

"So, this week, we're in Sunderland for the Great Britain women and girls talent programme. It's the first one that we've held this year, so it's a try out. We did some training yesterday, so two sessions, and then we mix the teams against France and GB, just to create a community. Then today we played some matches against France, and we just had our first game today.

"Seeing as this is tryouts for the women's programme, going forward, we give a lots of opportunities to all the players. We won. It was absolutely fantastic to see everybody take into account what we worked on yesterday in the training sessions and then put into practice in the game. So we're very, very happy that everybody got a fair amount of court time and got to show us their skills for the tryouts. That will help our selection going forward onto the programme."

With plenty of fresh-faced hopefuls vying to make their mark upon the Great Britain squad, Bhuta was taken aback by his squad's triumph over France. When asked to pick out some top performers from the opening skirmish of the two match series, the head coach identified a Northampton Saints star who has been backed for a bright future.

"So, we've got a lot of youngsters here, a lot a lot of teenagers, which is really nice to see. One standout player for us is Millie Partridge, who's 16 or 17, she's really, really amazing and she's definitely one to watch out for the future."

"So that was the first match of the day. We've got another one this evening, at 5pm and we're [want to be] really consistent against the French team, that put a lot of pressure on them. It's amazing to see, people having fun, doing the right things, doing the fundamental rugby tactics. Just really nice to see from a coaching perspective."

"GB and France are the two leading countries for the women's and girls programmes. We've got eight female players here, and we've got more waiting, which is the most exciting thing. So, these are like a selection that we've got, playing these games. So we're going to host more training camps and selection camps, and hopefully we'll see more and more female participation increase.

"That's the goal. This is just the pathway, and then they go into our talent squad, and then hopefully, from that talent squad, we'll have more representation in the GB elite squad at the Paralympic Games."

Bhuta retired from his on-court action following Great Britian's triumphant 2020 Paralympic Games, in which they won gold in Tokyo. Bhuta revealed how he's relished the challenge in going from player to coach, as he takes the helm of the women's squad into an exciting new era.

"I've got vast amount of player experience. I've got 158 caps for Great Britain, gold medalist in Tokyo, 2020, Paralympic Games. I retired after the Paralympics, and it's been a real journey. You think you know it all as a player, but then to transfer that into coaching skills, you've got to start from the bottom.

"In how to get your messages across, how to deliver tactics, make sure everybody understands, make sure everyone's on the same page and connected. So that's the biggest challenge I've had as a coach, to make sure what I've got in my brain transfers to to all the players. So I've been coaching for two years now, and it's getting easier and easier the more that I coach."

Bhuta signed off the first match of the afternoon by showcasing the partnership that Great Britain Wheelchair Rugby have with the Red Roses. The two squads have formed a unique collaboration, as the GB players will watch on at the Stadium of Light for England's opening match of the tournament tomorrow night.

"So we're going just rest now and recover, and prepare for the next game in the evening. Tomorrow we've got the opportunity for some of the players to go watch the game, so this brings everything together, and hopefully we can bring a bigger crowd this this evening. Hopefully some of the England players are welcome to come and watch as well."

"They're [GB wheelchair rugby players] excited to go and watch [Red Roses]. They've got their banners out and everything. So, it's a really nice touch to be invited to go watch as well."

If you are in Sunderland today, ahead of tomorrow's Women's Rugby World Cup match, make sure you don't miss the wheelchair rugby action this evening at the Beacon of Light. Great Britain take on France with a 5pm KO. Tickets are FREE so make sure to catch all of the action!