The wing has scored 63 tries in his career, and has overcome the injury that ruled him out of contention for the Olympics last summer to take his place in head coach Gareth Williams’ team. Adding further firepower to the Wales side is the inclusion of James Benjamin of Newport Gwent Dragons, who has been heavily involved in training with the squad this year, and last featured for Wales Sevens in their Bowl-winning match against Australia in Twickenham last summer.
“Tournaments are coming thick and fast in this period of the season, but that is good in keeping momentum going,” says head coach Williams. “We are lucky to be keeping the squad consistent again, and more importantly, it is fantastic to be welcoming Luke Morgan back after his recovery from a long-term knee injury. His experience and quality will be key in aiding the squad in a challenging group with Canada, France, and South Africa.”
Consistency through the season is one of Williams’s main priorities, and having regularly made the quarter-finals of the Cup this season, he’s hoping Wales can go one step further.
“We progressed to the semi-finals in Dubai, so we’d like to get ourselves into that position again. However, the three teams we face will have something to say about that, so we need to ensure our intensity and execution is at its best to continue our young group’s growth.”
As the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series reaches its midway point, Wales will feel confident of producing more of the thrilling displays – including a long-awaited victory against Fiji last time out in Sydney – which have seen their young team exceed expectations this season. They currently lie joint-sixth with Australia in the World Series standings.
Wales Sevens squad for Las Vegas
Owen Lane (Cardiff Blues)
Morgan Williams (Ospreys)
Stefan Andrews (Aberavon)
Luke Morgan
Owen Jenkins
Tom Williams (Ospreys)
Ethan Davies
Lloyd Evans
Adam Thomas
Sam Cross (Capt)
Ben Roach
James Benjamin (Newport Gwent Dragons)
Las Vegas Sevens runs from 3rd-5th March and will be shown live on Sky Sports. Wales Sevens’ Pool A kick-off times (GMT): v France (02:21, 4th March), v Canada (05:20, 4th March), v South Africa (00:08, 5th March).
For all information on the tournament, including kick-off times, click here.
