England sevens star Alex Matthews says club rugby has been her ‘saviour’.

Matthews signed for Worcester Warriors, who play in the Premier 15s, in September after the sevens programme was cut by the Rugby Football Union. She has also returned for England 15s, scoring a try in their 33-10 victory over France at the weekend.

She told The Telegraph: “We don’t know what is going to happen [with sevens]. I got into a bit of a hole of overtraining and then loss of motivation levels because we didn’t know what we were training for and pushing for when everything has been so unknown.

“But going back to club rugby has been a saviour. I would be waiting for 4pm for training, as it was the happiest few hours of my day. Then being back in England camp for the past four weeks has been great. It brings the structure I miss so much.  

“It isn’t so much the training and the playing but missing things like having meetings, having lunch together, and the small talk between sessions.”

It is still unknown when the RFU will fund the sevens programme again and so players have set up a crowdfunder to realise their Olympic dream.