Wales skipper Adam Thomas suffered a shoulder injury in last weekend’s round in Dubai while Adam Field picked up a hamstring injury. Llandovery scrum half Davies will be making his debut in the competition while Aberavon midfielder Price is no stranger to the World Series, having played in nine tournaments previously.
Wales head coach Paul John said it is important that his squad build on their two previous rounds which has seen them rise to sixth equal in the overall series rankings.
“Rhodri has played in Bucharest with the FIRA Sevens and has performed well in training so we have no qualms about bringing him into the squad while Will isn’t short of experience at this level,” said John who has mixed feelings about last week’s tournament which saw Wales lose the Plate final to Argentina after qualifying for the Cup tournament by finishing top of their pool.
“The boys did excellent on day one in Dubai – we beat Scotland for the first time in two years where we showed a lot of application and a good attitude to top what was a very difficult group. All the sides would have fancied themselves to win that group so to come out on top was very pleasing,” he said.
“We didn’t reach those same heights against England on day two in the Cup quarter-final – the boys were disappointed with that, but we were still in the game until the last couple of minutes. We bounced back against Kenya in the Plate semi where we were down to just eight fit players so it proved tough in the final against Argentina.”
Wales will be going into the tournament at the Port Elizabeth Bay Stadium where New Zealand, Portugal and USA are ready to make their own mark.
“The boys have recharged their batteries this week which has proved to be a bit of a balancing act with the injuries but as long as we continue to improve I’m hopeful of picking up more points in South Africa,” said John.
Wales Sevens squad for South Africa Sevens
7-8 December – Port Elizabeth Bay Stadium
Luke Morgan (Bridgend)
Alex Walker (Cardiff)
Lee Williams (Carmarthen Quins – Captain)
Chris Knight (Llandovery)
Ashley Evans (Bridgend)
James Davies (Carmarthen Quins)
Rhys Jones (Cross Keys)
Rhys Shellard (Pontypridd)
*Rhodri Davies (Llandovery)
Samuel Cross (Cardiff Met)
Jason Harries (Carmarthen Quins)
Will Price (Aberavon)
*Uncapped
