Exeter University student Luke Treharne selected to represent GB at the World University Championships.

In addition to competing at the world-wide tournament next month, Luke has also been selected for the Grand Prix Series Rugby Sevens 2012 and will be competing in Moscow this weekend (30 June – 1 July). During his first year at Exeter Luke has played for the University’s Men’s Rugby 1^st team (15s and 7s), supported by the Rugby High Performance Programme.
Director of Rugby Keith Fleming said, “I am delighted that Luke has been selected to compete at this major tournament. At the University we continue to develop our Rugby High Performance Programme to enable our athletes to meet their aspirations of  stepping into the  professional ranks or gaining significant international student representation. Luke has achieved this and we wish him well at the two world level events.”

Organised by the international University Sports Federation (FISU), the World University Championships are held every even-numbered year and 2012 will include the 5th World University Rugby 7 Championship in the city of Brive-la-Gaillarde, France, on 11-13 July. The GB team will be travelling to France with the aim of improving upon their third-placed finish behind Portugal and Russia at the 2010 Championships.

GB Team Manager Adrian Evans said, “University and Colleges rugby has become a hot breeding ground for talent, and Sevens is a great way to tap into that pool and develop skills. With Sevens included in the 2016 Olympic Games, emphasis on Sevens is only going to increase. All players will no doubt gain a great deal of benefit from training and competing at the World University Championships, both from a playing perspective and from the experience that the competitive environment will bring.”