Wales have literally come a long way in a short time in their attempt to qualify for next year’s Rugby World Cup to be held in Moscow.
Rhys Edwards’ side progressed serenely to this weekend’s final World Cup qualifier by destroying the opposition in Bulgaria to secure one of the last four spots remaining.
Wales went unbeaten, amassing a staggering 333 points to join the 12 European teams with established sides and seedings who had already qualified for this weekend’s event (namely England, Spain, Netherlands, Russia, France, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Moldova, Ukraine and Switzerland.)
Despite their relative inexperience at his level, Edwards is confident his fledgling side can cause a few headaches against their more established opponents.
“A top eight finish is a realistic target,” he said. “From there we could possibly aim for the Plate which would give us a top five finish.
“However we are four years behind the Top 12 nations in respect of playing Sevens but we will be one of the fittest teams out there and we have found some girls we wouldn’t normally have come across.
“The Sevens programme is going to be a huge stepping stone for the players in terms of their core skills development back into XVs and this is also an opportunity to develop belief in their own ability.”
Wales will face France, Russia and Moldova in their pool and even though the odds might be stacked against them, Team Manager Sophie Bennett says her side aren’t resting on their laurels having achieved their initial aim of qualifying for this stage.
“Over the last four months the girls have made huge strides in our Sevens game and hopefully we can now move this forward into regularly competing at this level,” she said.
“Initially we had set out to get to this tournament and now that we have done that I believe anything can happen.
“I think our programme has been a success this summer as we have uncovered a couple of players to the international game that we would not have necessarily found otherwise and the skills, attitude and conditioning have improved and will impact on the XV-a-side game.”
Wales Women have made one change to their squad, with Laurie Harries coming in for Philippa Tuttiett who is unavailable due to work commitments.
Wales Women: Rachel Taylor, Rebecca de Filippo, Delyth Davies, Nia Davies, Jade Phillips, Sian Williams, Elinor Snowsill, Rachel Rees, Elen Evans, Charlie Murray, Caryl James, Laurie Harries.
