JAZ ON FAST TRACK TO GLORY IN TOKYO
FAST hands, quick feet, an eye for a gap and flexibility are just a few associations one would easily conjure up when asked about Jasmine Joyce.
Another one, of course, is her everpresent beaming smile.
The 25-year-old Wales wing and Team GB call-up smiles down her phone over Zoom after being selected for her second Olympic Games.
The Bristol Bears back-three woman, who calls St Davids in Pembrokeshire home, is just 5ft 7in and 9st 7lb – making for a slight stature which regularly attracts surprised expressions when the aspiring teacher reveals her sporting passion.
She took up rugby aged seven, but has done well to push through discouragement with coaches and even players labelling her too small for the sport.
“Not my first two coaches,” she is keen to stress. “They were awesome, they backed me and let me play.
“But growing up, coaches used to say ‘you’re too small’. I kind of used to just take it, and be like ‘do you know what, I probably am’, but the more I played and the more I got used to it, it doesn’t matter shape or size. Rugby is literally for everyone.”
It’s a line of conversation which hasn’t desisted to this day, with new acquaintances often in slight disbelief.
“I say I play rugby, and they’re really shocked,” she added.
“There literally are all shapes, all sizes, all different skill sets to be able to play rugby.
“You can’t have all of the same person otherwise it’s just not going to work.”
High praise came from Wales rugby legend Shane Williams in advance of this year’s postponed Women’s Six Nations in April when he wrote of her: “Is there a better wing than Jasmine Joyce in the UK?”
“That’s pretty insane, considering I’ve grown up watching Shane Williams as a winger,” she reveals.
“He’s always been a very small winger and so am I. I know he’s been told ‘you’re too small to play rugby, you’re never going to make it’ type of thing. I’ve experienced that as well.
“To almost get your rugby idol to say that about you, you can’t wish for much more, I guess.”
The former Scarlets player was the second youngest squad member at Rio 2016 – the first year where Sevens was played at the Olympics – and she insists only a gold medal will do in Tokyo this summer.
Pace is undoubtedly one of her attributes, but the 19-times Wales rugby union capped flyer insists it’s not her advantage on the Olympic stage.
“Everyone’s got pace,” she said. “Pace would not have been the thing that got me selected.”
Joyce always dreamed of going to an Olympics after watching the likes of Kelly Holmes and Jessica EnnisHill on the global stage, but deciding which sport it would be with came a little later.
“As a sportsperson your Olympics is almost always the pinnacle of your sport,” she said.
“I thought I could be a sprinter maybe. I always used to watch Kelly Holmes. Jessica was the new up-andcoming thing when I was watching it.
“Watching her, I thought maybe I could be a heptathlete.
“I guess it was never an ambition to compete in the Olympics as a rugby player because it was never an option. It was the first time it was in the Olympics at Rio.
“As soon as rugby Sevens was in the Olympics... yeah, rugby Sevens is what I’m going to go to the Olympics for.
“It’s massive, and to be selected, it’s a relief but also I’ve trained for the last five years for this.
“Everything I’ve done has been for this moment, so to finally have my name on the team sheet and to be going to my second Olympics is a second dream come true.
“It’s worthwhile, everything that I’ve done over the last five years. What I’ve eaten, what I’ve drunk, what I’ve trained, not seeing my family. It’s all come down to this moment.
“It’s all worth it.”
Joyce is heading to her second Olympic Games with the aim of claiming a gold medal and also of making the dream team – ambitions which are a far cry from her debut outing to Brazil.
“I potentially am taking a different role this time,” she said.
“Five years ago I was almost just a wild card, the new girl, I was very lucky to be there.
“I think it must have been a really tight call between me and a different player, whereas this time around I think I’m hoping to be starting.
“I told the coach ‘I want to win gold and make the dream team’ – that’s my goal this time. Five years ago, it was just to get some minutes.
“I’m in a completely different situation and mindset now.
“I’m going to enjoy every moment of this but I think there’s going to be a lot more pressure on me as an individual potentially, to go out there and perform.
“I’m so looking forward to it, it’s going to be an amazing experience again.”
The PE teacher also believes Great Britain’s lack of competitive action over the last five years could actually
work in their favour.
“I think it is exciting. We’ve obviously only had two tournaments to date prior to an Olympic Games, which probably isn’t normal and isn’t what we hoped for,” she said.
“But as Team GB, one of our benefits and strengths is that teams don’t know how we play because we don’t get seen on circuits.
“We don’t get seen at any time as we obviously only play as individual nations.
“That is continuing to be a strength for us.”