Global Partners
Global Partners
label.rwc7s2022.logo-alt-text label.rwc7s2022.logo-alt-text label.rwc7s2022.logo-alt-text
Listen Live
  • Get Tickets
  • Video
  • News
  • Teams
  • Get Tickets
  • Video
  • News
  • Teams
  • Venue
  • Qualifying
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ Tickets
  • About RWC Sevens
  • Media
  • Contact Us
World Rugby
Website language
English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
Website language
English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語
  • About RWC Sevens
  • Media
  • Contact Us
Latest News
Andy Vilk, head coach of Italy men's sevens
4 min read

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Italy men’s sevens team seeks return to the big stage

The European men's qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 is on the horizon with the prize of four tickets to Cape Town, South Africa at stake in July.

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Thu 19 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Black Ferns Sevens renew riveting rivalry with Australia on HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Australia wrapped up the 2022 Series title in Langford, but the Black Ferns Sevens left Canada with plenty to celebrate as they begin a busy period.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 3 May, 2022
4 min read
Madagascar Women's Sevens
3 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: Madagascar latest team to book ticket to Cape Town

Following another intense weekend of qualifying action we now know the identity of 12 women's and 20 men's teams who will compete at RWC Sevens 2022.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Mon 2 May, 2022
3 min read
HSBC Spain Sevens Seville 2022 - Women's
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe keen to drive Ireland onto Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

We spoke to the prolific Ireland star about backing up the team’s success in Seville and plotting their path to Cape Town in September.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 26 April, 2022
4 min read
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day Two
5 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Everything you need to know about Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Your guide to RWC Sevens 2022, which will take place in Cape Town between 9-11 September this year.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Fri 8 April, 2022
5 min read
2018 Highlights
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
08:29 mins

Highlights: New Zealand win big in San Francisco

New Zealand retained their Rugby World Cup Sevens title in San Francisco
Mon 23 July, 2018
08:29 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
07:03 mins

Highlights: New Zealand women's win Rugby World Cup Sevens

Check out all the top action as New Zealand win The Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco
Sun 22 July, 2018
07:03 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day Two
06:30 mins

HIGHLIGHTS: Men's semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day two

Men's semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day two of action at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 #RWC7s
Sun 22 July, 2018
06:30 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day One
06:51 mins

Highlights: Men's quarter-finals decided

Men's quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup Sevens decided after incredible first day at AT&T Park
Sat 21 July, 2018
06:51 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
06:26 mins

Highlights: Women's semi-finals confirmed at Rugby World Cup Sevens

Championship semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day one of action
Sat 21 July, 2018
06:26 mins
Hall of Fame
Wednesday 27 October, 2021
4 min read

“Hugely honoured and a bit humbled”: Will Carling and Cheryl McAfee react to World Rugby Hall of Fame induction

We spoke to Will Carling and Cheryl McAfee as it was confirmed the legendary pair will be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2021.
  • label.share.via_facebook_messenger
  • label.share.via_whatsapp
  • label.share.via_facebook
  • label.share.via_twitter
  • label.share.via_copy
    URL Copied

Will Carling and Cheryl McAfee have each expressed their shock and honour at being inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame.

The pair are among a group of six legends who will be inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame presented by Tudor in 2021.

Osea Kolinisau, Humphrey Kayange, Huriana Manuel-Carpenter and Jim Telfer also had their places confirmed as the Hall of Fame panel celebrated rugby sevens, the Olympic Games and the 150th anniversary of the first international match between England and Scotland.

Carling captained England to four Five Nations championship titles, three of which were Grand Slams, and led his country into two Rugby World Cups, reaching the RWC 1991 final on home soil and the semi-finals in South Africa four years later.

"I'm lost for words, which is unlike me..." 😲

"That is 𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 unlike you!" 😆

⭐️ Congratulations to former @EnglandRugby, @lionsofficial and @Harlequins star @willcarling on joining the World Rugby Hall of Fame #WorldRugbyHOF pic.twitter.com/F7RHPzj1VO

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) October 27, 2021

“It's just a bit of a shock, I have to say. Not something I ever thought would happen… [I’m] hugely honoured and a bit humbled,” he told World Rugby.

“I've never really seen myself in that way, you know. You think you're lucky to play, for me, lucky to play in a team game and that's what I loved and lucky enough to lead a team for a good period.

“But I never thought of it as an individual thing.”

Carling added: “I remember when I was at school, we won an under-13s competition and Bill Beaumont presented the prizes and I remember just standing there looking at him thinking, he's immortal, he played for England.

“At school you used to watch England or internationals and you used to think those people were different.

“You never thought you'd play, and then you play and to a certain extent, you know, you see kids look at you in a certain way and you feel like saying to them: ‘No listen, I'm just the same as you’.

“And, I think that's the way I look at the Hall of Fame, just like ‘wow, those people are different’ — and I just don't see myself in that way.”

“Honoured and super proud”

McAfee became the first woman to lead a team to Rugby World Cup Sevens glory when she captained Australia to the title in Dubai in 2009.

She was then invited, alongside Kayange, to be part of the bid team that secured sevens’ inclusion in the Olympic Games, delivering a stirring speech to the International Olympic Committee members in Copenhagen later that same year.

Asked how it felt when she found out she would be inducted into the Hall of Fame, McAfee replied: “Surreal, I was in shock.

“Obviously, it's a huge honour and a privilege, and when I found out I was elated, but just very, very surprised.”

McAfee was contacted by Hall of Fame panel chairman John Eales, via friend and fellow inductee Anna Richards, with the good news and admits that it was not until a film crew arrived at her house that it really began to sink in.

“Then I got very emotional. It’s taken a while, but it feels amazing, it feels incredible, I still can’t believe it,” she added.

“Reliving those moments of what I've done, what we've done as a team, what I've achieved, what we've achieved as a team.

“The induction into the Hall of Fame is no easy feat, there are legends in that Hall of Fame, and I don't see myself as a legend.

"Thank you for everything you have done for the game of rugby" 🏉

⭐️ Time to meet our World Rugby Hall of Fame inductees for 2021 #WorldRugbyHOF pic.twitter.com/ihDkW38z5T

— World Rugby (@WorldRugby) October 27, 2021

“It's really bizarre, but I'll take it. I'm honoured and I'm super proud.”

Proudest achievements

Lifting the RWC Sevens trophy above her head following Australia's sudden-death extra-time defeat of New Zealand at The Sevens Stadium in Dubai remains McAfee’s proudest achievement in rugby.

“We had to jump through hoops and jump hurdles to get where we got to. It was tough, you had to work full-time,” she said.

“That definitely was the biggest achievement and the most gratifying feeling raising that World Cup with my team-mates.”

McAfee says that when she made her speech to the IOC in 2009, she was thinking about “all the female rugby players” around the world who aspired to play the game.

So, to watch her countrywomen win the first Olympic gold medal in Rio seven years later was a particularly proud moment.

“My goal was to play in the 2016 Olympics, that would have been the fairytale ending, but it didn't work out that way,” McAfee said.

“But then I got to be there and watch the girls win the first ever gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“So, for me, that was that was amazing, nothing else mattered at that point. I knew what they were going through, I knew that feeling, I knew all those girls, I knew what they went through.

“So, for me, that was that was a fairytale ending in the end.”

For Carling, the moments he most enjoyed came in changing rooms after big victories “when you're lying on the ground or slumped in a corner and you look across at a team-mate and you just smile and think, ‘Wow, that was special’”.

Captaining England at RWC 1995 might have ended in semi-final defeat, but it gave Carling the opportunity to meet the newly elected president of South Africa, and now a fellow inductee, the late Nelson Mandela.

“One of the great moments for me was meeting Mandela,” Carling said.

“He was a guy that you were completely in awe of and had been, so to actually have a memento of a picture with him, you just sort of think, ‘wow’, and to be able to introduce him to the team and listen to him talk, that was pretty, pretty unique for me.

“We play sport, you know, it's a game and then you meet someone who has just done genuinely staggering things for his country and for the world, that's pretty humbling and pretty incredible.

“For me, I think that out of those sorts of things, that was probably the most impressive and brilliant experience, you know, in terms of meeting people on a rugby pitch.”

READ MORE: Six legends to be inducted into World Rugby Hall of Fame >>

Trending News Show all
HSBC France Sevens 2022 Men's
6 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series - Toulouse

Men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series favourites suffer shock defeats on opening day in Toulouse as women’s champions Australia continue fine form

South Africa, Australia and Argentina were all beaten on the opening day of the HSBC France Sevens men’s event, while New Zealand and Australia caught the eye with some big wins in the women’s competition

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series - Toulouse

Fri 20 May, 2022
6 min read
Rikki Swannell becomes first females to commentate on men's series
5 min read

Feature

Behind the microphone: Groundbreaker Rikki Swannell

World Rugby talks to the New Zealander about becoming the first female lead commentator on the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and her life in sports broadcasting.

Feature

Fri 20 May, 2022
5 min read
Andy Vilk, head coach of Italy men's sevens
4 min read

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Italy men’s sevens team seeks return to the big stage

The European men's qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 is on the horizon with the prize of four tickets to Cape Town, South Africa at stake in July.

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Thu 19 May, 2022
4 min read
Serevi Coaching Roadshow - HSBC Event
3 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Fiji are in Toulouse to win: “There is still room for improvement,” says Gollings

Gold and silver medals in their last two HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series outings have Fiji feeling good ahead of French tournament

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Thu 19 May, 2022
3 min read
HSBC France Sevens 2022
4 min read

Rugby Sevens

Captains ready for lift off at HSBC France Sevens

Toulouse welcomes a full line-up of 16 men’s and 12 women’s teams for the first time in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series on 20-22 May

Rugby Sevens

Wed 18 May, 2022
4 min read
2018 Commonwealth Games women's final
3 min read

Commonwealth Games

All the build-up to rugby sevens at the Commonwealth Games 2022

Now that the line-ups are complete in both the men’s and women’s tournaments, we take a look at who has won gold in the past and the sides competing to add their names to the roll call of honour in July.

Commonwealth Games

Wed 11 May, 2022
3 min read
Madagascar qualify for rugby world cup sevens
4 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Discipline and hard work at the heart of Madagascar's success on the road to Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

The Madagascar women's sevens team has achieved their historic dream of qualifying for a Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament for the first time. At the heart of this achievement lies a lot of hard work, determination and discipline.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Wed 11 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Seven women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series players to watch in Toulouse

Following an exciting weekend in Langford we look at seven women’s stars who could light up Toulouse between 20-22 May.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Thu 5 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Black Ferns Sevens renew riveting rivalry with Australia on HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Australia wrapped up the 2022 Series title in Langford, but the Black Ferns Sevens left Canada with plenty to celebrate as they begin a busy period.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 3 May, 2022
4 min read
Madagascar Women's Sevens
3 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: Madagascar latest team to book ticket to Cape Town

Following another intense weekend of qualifying action we now know the identity of 12 women's and 20 men's teams who will compete at RWC Sevens 2022.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Mon 2 May, 2022
3 min read
Global Partners
label.rwc7s2022.logo-alt-text
  • Rugby World Cup Limited © 2007 - 2022. All Rights Reserved.
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Cookies Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Rugby World Cup Sevens
  • World Rugby Media Zone
Website language
English
  • English
  • Français
  • Español
  • 日本語