Dubai: Mike and Megan Ellery will make history at the Emirates Dubai Rugby Sevens on Friday as the first siblings to represent England’s men’s and women’s sevens teams.
Mike, 24, a forward, is in his sixth HSBC Sevens World Series season and will be playing in the second leg of the nine-stage tour, while Megan, 21, a centre or wing, will make her debut in the opening stage of the five-leg IRB Women’s Sevens World Series.
“Having a brother in the England team definitely puts me under a bit of pressure,” said Megan, from Penrith, Cumbria, who started out playing netball for Durham University before switching to rugby with the Darlington Mowlem Park Sharks.
“Because of him, a lot of people will be interested to see what I can bring to the tournament, so hopefully I can live up to the expectations.”
Of following in her big brother’s footsteps, Megan added: “We’ve been brought up in quite a rugby-mad family, so there’s always been a rugby ball around. I’ve pretty much been brought up on the sidelines watching him play.
“He taught me to be tough. Our rooms are opposite each other at home, so we used to play one on one across the landing, which usually ended up with me in a heap at the bottom of the stairs.
“I could show you a lot of scars and bruises from when we tried to play together. We would always throw a ball around outside much to the annoyance of our neighbours and we always used to play around the house.”
Mike, who plays club rugby for Moseley, said: “I have quite an addictive personality and when I was a kid I jumped between different sports and Meg just followed whatever phase I was in at the time.”
With this weekend being the only stage on tour where both men’s and women’s events run concurrently, the siblings are unlikely to be reunited in action again anytime soon, but unfortunately their parents won’t be able to see the proud moment for themselves.
“Megan only found out last week,” said Mike. “It was a bit of a surprise. She only started playing rugby properly last year, so it’s all come out of the blue. If we had planned it, our parents might have been able to come out and watch.”
Megan added of her parents reaction to her call-up: “It came out of nowhere and they were really surprised. But they seem to be really proud of us. I feel very fortunate to be here, but it’s all still a bit surreal at the moment.”
