Ben Roach returns from his productive spell with Dragons, while Cardiff Blues’ Harri Millard and Newport’s Chay Smith could both be in line for their World Series debuts.
Whilst admitting his disappointment following the opening two rounds of the competition, head coach Gareth Williams said there have been positives to take at this early stage of the season. “We’re in a position where we’re really pleased with how the young players performed in Dubai and Cape Town. We’ve had some pretty honest chats as a core group and realise we need to step up to the mark in Sydney.”
Awaiting them at the Allianz Stadium in six days’ time are Pool B opponents Argentina, France and Kenya. “It’s a very competitive group,” said Williams, “with each of those teams having reached the quarter-finals in the first two legs – twice, in France’s case – and Argentina made it all the way to the final in Cape Town.”
Williams, who announces his matchday squad later next week, explained his selection for these two rounds: “Harri and Chay have earnt their place through what they’ve done in training, which has been very competitive in this block. Billy McBryde comes in for the injured Ethan Davies, but despite losing the experience of Ethan and Lloyd Evans, we do get an element of that back with Ben Roach returning from Dragons.
Williams and assistant coach Richie Pugh are particularly keen to see an improvement in their team’s performance ahead of the Commonwealth Games in Queensland this April.
“There are only four tournaments left before selection for the Games, and we have some boys still to come back in,” he said, with Sam Cross missing the Australia and New Zealand legs as he and his partner are expecting their first child. “We’re having positive discussions with the regions too, so we will potentially have a big player pool to select from come mid-March.”
Sydney Sevens takes place on 27th-28th January, and will be aired live on Sky Sports.
Wales squad for Sydney Sevens: Adam Thomas, Cameron Lewis, Owen Jenkins, Chay Smith, Harri Millard, Joe Jenkins, Billy McBryde, Phil Jones, Luke Treharne (c), Morgan Williams, Will Talbot-Davies, Ben Roach, Lloyd Lewis, Luke Morgan.
