John is taking a Welsh squad to the invitation charity tournament at Twickenham for the first time in the 84-year history of the competition and using it as preparation for the season ahead.
But rather than compete as simply ‘Wales’ against sides from the English Premiership like Harlequins and Wasps as well as representations from the British Army, England, Scotland and Kenya, John’s team will play under the ‘Amser Justin Time’ banner.
Amser Justin Time is the Pancreatic Cancer Charity for Wales set up by broadcaster Shân Cothi in memory of her husband Justin and is particularly close the hearts and minds of the family of former Wales Sevens coach and Bridgend hooker Colin Hillman, who passed away from the disease in 2009 aged just 46.
Wales’ Amser Justin Time side will start the day against the tournament’s inaugural winners Harlequins – who finished victorious at the first event in 1926 – at 12.30pm, and the head coach warns a high standard of opposition will be on show.
“We are treating this very much as preparation for what will be a tough season ahead. It will be our first experience of the Middlesex Sevens as a squad and the first time we have been able to prepare in this way pre-season but it is a knockout tournament and if you lose your first two games that’s it you go home, so we will have to be right on our mettle,” said John.
“It’s all for a good cause and fans can actually contribute to the Amser Justin Time charity when they buy their tickets via www.middlesexsevensrugby.com and click on the charity’s logo on the charities page.”
If John’s side beat Harlequins in their first game at 12.30, they could come up against a Samurai side which includes WRU Head of Rugby, Performance and Development Joe Lydon in their coaching team.
“The competition will be the start of our build up to a busy season in Sevens with the Commonwealth games just around the corner,” added John.
“But there are some top English Premiership clubs in the tournament and sides like Kenya, Samurai and the British Army who are regulars on the circuit and will be very strong having played in three or four tournaments over recent months.
“England will also be strong as always having gone down the 100-per-cent professional route with their players and they will be well prepared in front of the Twickenham faithful.
“For those reasons the tournament should be great preparation for us and we will be particularly proud to be competing in the name of a cause so close to our hearts.
“When we were asked what name we wanted to compete under we thought of Colin straight away, he died just last year and was a hugely positive influence on the Sevens game in Wales, including on our Rugby World Cup Sevens victory.”
Nine of the 12-man squad played for Wales Sevens at the Twickenham and Edinburgh Sevens tournaments last summer, but many of those players are still relatively inexperienced compared to many of the players on the international circuit. Kristian Phillips and Lloyd Phillips are the two uncapped players, while Richie Mustoe was a Wales Sevens player in 2006/07, notably helping Wales lift the Plate at the Hong Kong Sevens.
“We have an exciting young squad with the likes of Kristian Phillips from the Ospreys and former Wales Under 20 flanker Lloyd Phillips joining stalwarts like Craig Hill (Newport) and players who have gained a lot of Sevens experience in recent seasons such as Ifan Evans (Llandovery), Rhys Shellard (Cardiff) and captain Jevon Groves of the Dragons and we are very much looking forward to facing some tough sides at Twickenham at Twickenham.”
WALES SQUAD FOR MIDDLESEX SEVENS
Jevon Groves (Captain, Dragons), Craig Hill (Newport), Ifan Evans (Llandovery), Gareth Davies (Cardiff), Rhys Jones (Newport), Richie Mustoe (Blues), Alex Cuthbert (Blues Academy), Kristian Phillips (Ospreys), Rhys Shellard (Cardiff), Lee Rees (Scarlets), Alex Walker (Unattached), Lloyd Phillips (Llandovery)
All the action starts at 10.30am with the final taking place at 6.35pm.
Colin Hillman
Colin Hilman, the former Wales Sevens team national coach and ex Bridgend hooker Colin Hillman died in July 2009 at the age of 46 after a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
He had been associated with rugby throughout his life winning international caps for Welsh Schools and Welsh Youth before going on to captain the senior Wales Sevens team. For most of his senior playing career he was hooker for Bridgend but also played for the Barbarians, Swansea, South Wales Police, Bridgend Sports and Merthyr rugby clubs.
Colin Hillman was part of rugby history when he played for the Wales Youth team which defeated South Africa Youth 30-25 at the Newlands ground, Cape Town on May 31, 1980 in a curtain raiser match before the British and Irish Lions played the Springboks. Two of his team-mates that day were future internationals Bleddyn Bowen and Ray Giles and the game remains the only Welsh international win against a South African international team on South African soil
After his playing days he turned to coaching significantly at Nantymoel rugby club and became Director of Rugby at the Bridgend Ravens while featuring on the international stage as the Wales Sevens coach.
He remained Director of Rugby at Bridgend and was still a WRU Technical Advisor to the Wales Sevens team at the time of his death.
Away from rugby he worked as a South Wales Police officer and served for a significant part of his career as a South Wales Police Armed Response Officer.
He presented the jerseys to the Wales squad before they headed to Dubai and won the Rugby World Cup Sevens for the first time in March 2009. His reputation around the world of rugby was emphasised when he was asked to help develop Sevens rugby for the Spanish international team.
Amser Justin Time, is a registered pancreatic cancer charity for Wales, for further information see: www.amserjustintime.org
