Red Roses superstar Ellie Kildunne came face to face with the brutality of elite sport as she and her Team GB teammates bowed out of the Olympic sevens in the quarterfinals.


Ellie Boatman’s early try put GB in front against the USA, and they led 7-5 at the break against the Americans.


But Kristi Kirshe gave the US the lead 12 seconds into the second half, and they eventually pulled clear to take the game 17-7, leaving GB players, including Keighley’s Kildunne, who switched to the shorter format after helping England to the Grand Slam, devastated.


GB skipper Emma Uren said: “Elite sport is brutal and even more sevens. You never know what side you are going to come out on. We are proud we threw a punch; we showed bits of our game that I don’t think we’ve shown in the last three games, but this is elite sport and it’s brutal at the top. If you make one mistake, the other capitalises on it.


“We can always look back at games and think where did we go wrong, could we have done better? That is just us as elite players. To get to the point we are now, we are hard on ourselves and our performances. I wish it had gone a different way and I was thinking about medal matches but we still have an opportunity tomorrow to go out there and show what we can do as players.”


Despite the disappointment for the GB girls, there was an incredible atmosphere at the Stade de France, with 66,000 having poured into the ground on Sunday and seemingly even more in attendance for the start of the knockout stages.


GB had earlier beaten South Africa to secure second place in their group and will come back on Tuesday to take on China as they try to secure fifth place.


Uren added: “It was something I never thought I would experience. I have been in sevens for six years and that is the biggest crowd I’ve ever played in front of.


“It’s a world record crowd for women’s rugby. I think it’s special and we have to remember we are making history. Ok, the result didn’t go our way but hopefully we are inspiring young girls that we can perform at this level, we can have a job out of it.”


Watch every moment of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 live only on discovery+, the streaming home of the Olympics.