Having finished the HSBC Sevens World Series on a high, the aim now is to develop the next wave of Wales Sevens players for the future, with FIRA tournaments in Moscow, Barcelona and Bucharest to come after France this weekend, along with the Middlesex Sevens next month.
John said: “We are very pleased with the way we ended the IRB season, with a Plate win in Adelaide, then to reach the Cup semi-finals in the last two tournaments in London and Edinburgh, losing narrowly to South Africa in both. Those performances show that we are not far off the best teams in the world but if we want to keep our place in the top ten in the world, we’ve got to keep working hard because all those teams improve so much all the time too.
“A lot of hard work has been done all season, a lot of it unseen by our fitness, coaching and support staff, and we can only get better by improving again and competing against the best sides more often.
“International Sevens is a great environment for the boys to play in and we’re thrilled that two of our players have gained Regional contracts as a result, we wish Jevon (Groves) and Gareth (Davies) all the best with those.
“We are looking to get some new players on dual contracts for next season, and these summer FIRA tournaments provide a great opportunity to see the next wave of talent that’s available to us.
“These are high quality tournaments with the likes of England, Portugal, France, Spain and Russia involved, they will give players an insight into international Sevens rugby, and the more competition we can create within the squad for next season, the better.
“We have already seen players break into our first squad from this group, with Warren Davies, Will Price and Will Price all gaining some IRB game time last season after training with us.”
WRU Head of Rugby Joe Lydon, added: “We see this new four tournament series as a real opportunity to test and develop our next tier of international sevens players with a view to enhance all players and coaches for both fifteen-a-side and sevens rugby.”
Wales Sevens squad for Lyon:
Owen Williams (Pontypridd), Calum Thomas (Pontypridd), Rory Watts Jones (Cardiff), Steve Taylor (Cardiff), Sam Lewis (Swansea), Luke Williams (unattached), Justin James (Llanelli), Lee Williams (Scarlets), Warren Davies (Tonmawr), Will Price (Aberavon), Will Jones (Cardiff), Elliot Frewen (Tonmawr)
