The ongoing regional age grade competition may have affected Wales’ training for the Rugby Europe tournament in the historic city of Heidelberg – up until tonight, the players will have been playing against each other – but Pugh is only looking at the positives.
“We may be somewhat underprepared, but the boys we’ve got are very talented,” he says. “We’ve only had three sessions together, from which we’ve been able to assemble a squad which I think is very promising. The boys have an opportunity to just go and play and show what they’re about, rather than being overly structured. It’s something new for us.”
Wales Women been represented at U18 level in sevens for over five years, but this weekend in Germany is a new frontier for the young men. “It’s something to look forward to, an additional element to the pathway programme. Whether it’s boys aspiring to play 15s or sevens, it’s a chance for us to widen the game and identify players early on.”
Gethin Davies from Scarlets will lead the team in Germany, having impressed his coach in training. “Gethin is a good openside who’s been playing well for his region, and he’s actually captained them on a few occasions,” Pugh says. “From a sevens perspective, Tony Lamerton is looking like a good playmaker, and we’ve got Dafydd Land and Ioan Lewis as our half-back partners. There’s speed out wide with George Thomas and Max Cunnington.”
Wales will also draw on the experience of somebody who has already played sevens at senior level for his country. “Dafydd Smith featured in three Rugby Europe tournaments with the senior squad last season, so it’s good that we have him available to us,” he says. “Daf is an example of the approach that if you’re good enough, you’re old enough.”
A number of players originally pencilled in for the squad were subsequently included in Wales U18s’ successful tour of South Africa over the summer. “Not dipping into that group of players means we’ve been able to increase our strength in depth for U18s rugby,” says Pugh.
To make this first experience even more novel for Wales, they have been drawn in a pool with Israel, Russia and Portugal. “It’s a step into the unknown for us, and we’re I think we’re actually ranked fourth in our pool because we’re a new team going in at this level,” he says. “But that’s what’s exciting about it: the chance to play against countries you never normally play, and exposing the boys to do a different level of rugby and different sporting cultures.”
Wales U18 Sevens: Gethin Davies (c) (Scarlets); Alex Varney (Scarlets); Tom Meehan (Cardiff and Vale College); Will Barraclough (Ospreys); Jay Jones (Blues South); Tony Lamerton (Blues South); Dafydd Land (Scarlets); Ioan Lewis (Blues South); Dafydd Smith (Blues Academy); Harri Doel (Scarlets); George Thomas (Blues North); Max Cunnington (Blues South).
The Rugby Europe U18 Sevens competition in Heidelberg will be streamed live here.
