However Paul John’s men couldn’t face a tougher opener as they face a rampant New Zealand side who are chasing their fourth title success of the series.
Gordon Tietjens’s side have a five point cushion ahead of England at the top of the points table but the New Zealand guru is taking nothing for granted.
“We have a tough pool. Cook Islands are always tough, Wales are a very good side and then there is Kenya so there is no easy game for us. We know we need to get up for it and not sit on the win in Hong Kong,” he said.
New Zealand stormed to the top of the pile after winning the Hong Kong crown last weekend while Wales now find themselves in eighth position. With Kenya and the Cook Islands also in their group of the Australian leg, Wales will fancy their chances of causing some damage.
Wales bowed out in the Bowl semi-final in Hong Kong, losing to Canada 24-17 despite earlier seeing off Argentina 29-14 in the quarters.
John was pleased with elements of his side’s performances, but is looking for greater consistency this weekend.
“There were some up and downs again last weekend”, he said. “We were pleased with our first two games against Hong Kong (35-12) and Spain (28-5), although we forced matters in the second half of the Spain match and could have got more tries to help go through as one of the best runners-up.
“Against South Africa, we lost a lot of possession and needed more composure because when we did keep the ball, our attacking game was good.
“We then produced a good performance against Argentina in our Bowl quarter-final on Day Three, but to lose to Canada when we had been 17-5 up with about five minutes to go was disappointing. Again, we tried to force possession, and gave away some silly points, although Canada had a great competition, beating Argentina too, and then Japan in the final.
“However, we have already put any disappointment behind us and there are lots of positives to build on. We have New Zealand, Kenya and the Cook Islands in our Pool in Adelaide so another tough ask but our aim is always to get into the Cup quarter-finals and take it from there.”
