'I was scouted by Team GB while playing rugby'

Jenna Abbott is set to get her first cap for the Team GB American football team

A woman who was scouted for the Team GB American football team while playing rugby is now set to represent the national team at the European Championships.

Jenna Abbott, from Leicester, has played rugby since she was a teenager when her school started a team so she and her classmates could "let off steam".

"I used to get red-carded in football, red-carded in basketball, hockey, everything," the 33-year-old said.

Abbott is now due to get her first Team GB cap when they face Spain on Saturday at 17:00 BST near Barcelona.

"It is crazy. If you told me [I'd be playing for Team GB] a year ago, I'd say you were mad," she said. "I'm super excited about it.

"Some of my friends have been trying for three, four years to get into the team and I feel like a bit naughty jumping the queue."

Abbott took a short break from rugby after her mother died, but after that joined her local side Oadby Wyggs RFC.

"Within my first two or three games, I was scouted by the defensive coordinator for GB.

"At the start of this year, I went down to GB and got through the first phase of the camp.

"I didn't really know much about the rules. It's all sort of tactics and you don't really think how complex American football is.

"I liked it. I liked the physical aspect of it. And if anything, it's probably more physical in a short space of time than rugby."

Ms Abbott still plays rugby, as well as American football

Abbott plays as a defensive tackle and described her role as trying to "hit the quarterback or running back and make their day really tough".

She said: "I went to the second camp and they liked how much I improved in that one month period and sort of said 'welcome to the practice squad'."

Abbott's success at the camp prompted her to join the Birmingham Lions American football team, so she could practice the sport more.

"Their coaching staff, my teammates there, they're so supportive and it's really been great," she said.

Playing American football for Team GB is self-funded, so Ms Abbott said she had been sponsored by her rugby club, with the president "basically" paying for her trip to Spain and helmet.

Ms Abbott still plays rugby as well as American football, and said that age should not be a barrier when getting into a new sport.

She said: "Some of the women that have come to rugby are mid-40s, nearly 50, and they've started playing rugby.

"And do you know what? Within a season, they're absolutely cracking."