BRYNMAWR’S Sam Cross will go for gold in Rio after being selected in the Team GB 7s squad for the Olympic Games.

The Wales international has made the cut for next month's Games after catching the eye with Britain on the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Series.

The 23-year-old is joined in the squad by Scarlets flanker James Davies but Luke Treharne, Wales captain and player of the tournament in Exeter a fortnight ago, is a shock omission and has to be content with a place on the reserve list.

The team will be captained by England's Tom Mitchell and features Glasgow Warriors centre Mark Bennett, who starred for Scotland at last year's World Cup.

Wales' Jasmine Joyce will be in the women's squad, which is captained by Emily Scarratt and features a number of experienced names from England's 2014 Women's Rugby World Cup winning side.

Cross, who is on a Welsh Rugby Union national contract until 2018 and has been playing in Newport's back row in the 15-man format, has been a regular on the HSBC Sevens World Series.

He suffered the agony of missing out on the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but has been an almost ever-present for his country since.

Cross has 114 matches under his belt on the World Series, has scored 34 tries and was named in the team of the tournament in Hong Kong.

“I just can’t wait to get to Rio,” he said. “A Brynmawr boy going to the Olympics, I am not sure anyone will believe it!

“I am a big Roger Federer fan so it would be a bit surreal if I bumped into him at the food hall. Everyone talks about Usain Bolt as well!”

GB have been drawn with New Zealand, Kenya and Japan in the 12-team tournament. The top two of the three groups go through automatically to the quarter-finals along with a pair of third-placed teams.

Men's Squad
Mark Bennett (Glasgow Warriors)
Dan Bibby (England Sevens)
Phil Burgess (England Sevens)
Sam Cross (Wales Sevens)
Alex Davis (England Sevens)
James Davies (Scarlets)
Ollie Lindsay Hague (Harlequins)
Tom Mitchell (England Sevens, captain)
Dan Norton (England Sevens)
James Rodwell (England Sevens)
Mark Robertson (Scotland Sevens)
Marcus Watson (Newcastle Falcons)

Women's Squad
Claire Allan (England Sevens)
Abbie Brown (England Sevens)
Heather Fisher (England Sevens)
Natasha Hunt (England Sevens)
Jasmine Joyce (Wales Sevens)
Katy McLean (England Sevens)
Alice Richardson (England Sevens)
Emily Scarratt (England Sevens, captain)
Emily Scott (England Sevens)
Danielle Waterman (England Sevens)
Joanne Watmore (England Sevens)
Amy Wilson-Hardy (England Sevens)