Geraint Rhys Jones will once again lead the squad in the Welsh regional leg of the qualifying tournament with a third successive final in the main competition the ultimate goal. Joining Jones from the squad that notched a famous 17-14 win over Wasps will be Harri Keddie, James Benjamin, Angus O’Brien, Elliot Frewen, Arwel Robson, Luc Jones and Jonny Lewis.
Dragons 15-a-side stars Ross Wardle, Darran Harris and Aled Brew join the squad this year, along with Cross Key’s outside half Ethan Davies and Chris Levesley. Davies played in nine of the 10 HSBC Sevens World Series tournaments for Wales last season, while Levesley recently played for Great Britain in the World University Rugby Sevens Tournament
The Dragons were beaten by Gloucester in the 20154 final, when the Scarlets joined them in the final tournament, while it was Cardiff Blues who qualified along with them in 2015. For the third year running experienced sevens coach, Nick Wakley, will be in charge of the Dragons challenge.
“The Singha 7s has been an incredible success story for the Dragons in terms of youngsters close to top flight rugby. Angus O’Brien, Ashton Hewitt and Harri Keddie have all kicked-on and, hopefully, will get some more exposure this year,” said Wakley.
“It has been a great stepping stone for them, it is a brutal environment and they really thrived in it and excelled. I am hoping to see the same thing this year and the three of them starting to put pressure on the 1st XV at the Dragons.”
Newport Gwent Dragons: Ross Wardle, Darran Harris, Harrison Keddie, Aled Brew, Ethan Davies, James Benjamin, Geraint Rhys Jones (captain), Elliot Frewen, Jonny Lewis, Arwel Robson, Chris Levesley, Luc Jones
Cardiff Blues have opted for a mix of youth and experience in their squad for the Welsh leg of the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s Series. Elite performance pathway manager Richard Hodges has been able to draft in some familiar faces in Wales 7s internationals Adam Thomas, Ben Roach and Owen Jenkins.
Pontypridd full-back Geraint Walsh will also return to Cardiff Blues colours and the experience provided by the senior players should allow the region’s tier two academy players to flourish on the big stage.
“We are lucky to have Adam Thomas, Owen Jenkins and Ben Roach, who are Cardiff Blues boys and have experience on the sevens stage. We’ve recruited them to be the real leaders in the group,” said Hodges.
“Then we can expose our tier two academy, guys just out of the Under 18s like Dane Blacker, Ben Jones, Callum Bradbury and Jimmy Botham. It’s not right or fair that they go into this with any pressure on them, so that will be absorbed by the experienced guys.
“There will be names a lot of people might not have heard of, some of them haven’t played any senior rugby yet, so they are being thrown in at the deep end. It will be exciting.”
Cardiff Blues: Adam Thomas, Ben Roach, James Botham, Luke Crocker, Joe Tomlinson, Ben Jones, Owen Jenkins, James Beale, Dane Blacker, Geraint Walsh, Ben Thomas, Declan Williams
Ospreys challenge will be led by Wales international Jonathan Spratt and he will have fit-again Wales wing Dafydd Howells alongside him. Howells is also a Wales 7s cap, along with Morgan Williams.
It will be the third year in a row that Williams has figured in the sevens, while it will also be a hat-trick of appearances for Steff Andrews. He wore the Ospreys colours in 2014 and also played with Leicester Tigers the year before that.
Wales Under 20 Grand Slammer Joe Gage will join them, while age-grade internationals Will Jones, James Ratti and Phil Jones are also included. Aberavon’s flying wing Jay Baker, last season’s Principality Premiership
Newcomer of the Year, will get his first outing in an Ospreys jersey and will have clubmate David Evans with him.
The Bridgend duo of Joe Scrivens and Tom O’Flaherty complete a squad that will be coached by Tom Smith and Richard Fussell.
Ospreys: Joe Scrivens, Steff Andrews, Will Jones, Dafydd Howells, James Ratti, Tom O’Flaherty, Morgan Williams, David Evans, Joe Gage, Phil Jones, Jay Baker, Jonathan Spratt (captain)
Scarlets coach Dai Flanagan has named seven players – Jake Conway, Matthew Owen, Aron Evans, Shaun Pearce, Aaron Warren, Iolo Evans and Rhodri Jones – who featured in last year’s series final at the Twickenham Stoop for the Welsh regional opener at the Arms Park.
“As a region, we’re very much looking forward to the evening. We had a successful run in this competition last year and it set a feel-good factor within the region,” said Flanagan.
“We won the first six games and the confidence spread through the group and, hopefully, we can repeat that this year. The Welsh leg of the competition is a little bit earlier this year, but it’s a good way of blowing the cobwebs away in pre-season.”
“I think the Singha 7s will be watched more this year than it’s ever been watched in the past with the interest surrounding sevens rugby and the Olympics at the moment. It’s an exciting competition for these young players to be a part of.
“You just have to look at the track record of Welsh players who have played sevens and gone on to represent their country. It’s a good opportunity for these boys and they’ll be much better players for the experience.”
Scarlets: Iolo Evans (Carmarthen Quins, captain), Matthew Owen (Scarlets), Jake Conway (unattached), Shaun Pearce (Llandovery), Rhodri Davies (Llandovery), Ashley Evans (Llanelli), Aron Evans (Llandovery), Dion Jones (Llanelli), Rhodri Jones (Llandovery), Nathan Edwards (Llanelli), Scott Gibson (Llandovery), Aaron Warren (Llandovery)
