James Davies and Tom Williams will make their debuts in the series this weekend in the Gold Coast Sevens where Wales face Argentina, France and Portugal in Pool D. The pair are brothers of Wales backs Jonathan and Lloyd respectively and will be hoping international Sevens will help further improve their chances of emulating their famous siblings.
Wales got last season’s campaign off to a flying start by claiming the Plate with a morale boosting win over Samoa and head coach Paul John says his side are now desperate to get playing after a successful pre-season.
“We’re pleased with the way things have gone pre-season,” he said. “We’ve worked on areas we needed to build on from last year to develop the group. Going out to play in a tournament in South Africa was hugely beneficial to the boys and we now just want to get the season under way.”
Wales ultimately finished last season’s campaign in eighth position overall, adding the South African Plate and England Bowl to their silverware collection but John is hopeful his squad can improve on that this season.
“There are 15 core teams in the programme this year and all will have their own expectations,” he said. “It’s going to be more difficult than ever to try and break into the top six. It’s a massive year for us, we just have to start well and ensure we are more consistent and have consistency in selection.
“First and foremost we want to finish inside the top eight. We could have finished seventh last year, but one disappointing day at Twickenham showed how tight the margins are.
“We had a bitterly disappointing Day One on London where Spain beat us and Zimbabwe should also have beaten us. But on Day Two we had a decent day to win the Bowl. So that proves it doesn’t matter who you come across, you can’t switch off.”
Wales squad for Gold Coast Sevens (Oct 13-14 at Skilled Park)
Rhys Shellard (Captain, Pontypridd), Adam Thomas (Pontypridd), Richie Pugh (Scarlets), Craig Price (Scarlets), James Davies (Carmarthen Quins), Alex Walker (Cardiff), Lee Williams (Scarlets), Will Thomas (Blues Academy), Richard Smith (Cardiff), Will Price (Ospreys), Rhys Jones (Scarlets), Tom Williams (Blues).
