As consolation prizes go, an opportunity to play for the World Barbarians in a 7s rugby tournament in Australia isn’t bad going.

Beth Weller missed out on England selection for the World Deaf 7s in Sydney next month, but has been invited to play as part of the invitational World Barbarians Ladies team.

“I will be playing with the World Barbarians made up of female deaf rugby players from a multitude of nations from around the world so it’s an exciting prospect,” said Beth.

“This will be the first major deaf rugby competition in 15 years so it’s an exciting competition for everyone involved.”

The tournament is very close but there’s just one small problem for 26-year-old Beth… she needs financial help to make her dream become a reality.

“I’ve started a Gofundme campaign on Twitter to help raise the funds needed to get there,” said Beth, who lives in Gloucester and went to school in Warwickshire.

So how did Beth get into rugby?

“A friend took me to Gloucester’s famous Shed when I was 18 and I was hooked on rugby ever since and I started playing the following summer before the Rugby World Cup in 2011,” she said.

“I’ve moved round quite a bit and played for various clubs – Reading RFC, Cheltenham Civil Service and Five Ways.

“I currently play for Cheltenham Civil Service and have previously represented the England Deaf Ladies Development team.”

Beth can play scrum-half or on the wing and since taking up the oval ball game has received plenty of support, including from ex-England Deaf coach Russ Shopland.

And Russ would obviously like nothing more than to see Beth heading to Australia next month.

“The tournament is very special,” said Beth. “It’s a great opportunity to meet other deaf and hard of hearing players and participate in a multi-national team competition.

“This is also a chance for the deaf/hard of hearing community to showcase Deaf Rugby to the world, showing that your disability doesn’t have to hold you back from playing rugby and being part of a team.

“The Barbarians team was created to give any players that didn’t make the squads for their respective countries the opportunity to participate in this tournament, which is the main aim of this competition to allow as many deaf rugby players to participate as possible regardless of ability.

“It would be great if we win but we have some very difficult opposition to face in England and Australia – so it will certainly be a challenging tournament.

“Rugby has given me the chance to meet so many positive and friendly people, I count myself very lucky indeed.”

You can find Beth’s Gofundme campaign at https://www.gofundme.com/barbarian-7s-in-sydney-april-2018