The 22-year-old has been one of the standout players in the Welsh Premiership this season, starting every one of the famous club’s matches. He only had his sights on business at Sardis Road until an unexpected opportunity presented itself.
As Sieniawski recalls it: “​It happened so fast. The club told me the sevens were interested just over a week before the World Series kicked off. The next day [Wales Sevens head coach] Darren Edwards rang me to ask if I’d be interested. I started training the following Monday and by the weekend I was making my debut in Dubai.”
Going into a new season with the youngest squad on the World Series, Wales have been pragmatic about their ambitions. “We are a young team,” says Sieniawski, who had an eye-opening training session with Fiji to help him acclimatise in Dubai. “If you took Luke Treharne and Ben Roach out of the equation, our average age is around 19. A lot of us are still learning the game, so when you come up against teams that have an average age of 26 it’s a big difference.”
Already a recognised talent in the red of Wales after his part in Wales U20s’ Grand Slam-winning year of 2016, Sieniawski needed little persuading to make the leap into the unknown. Even if he did, he had the right teammates to do the job. “We’ve got players at Ponty like Rhys Shellard and Alex Webber who’ve had a lot of success with the sevens,” he says. “They told me I had to go for it. To represent your country in any sport is a great achievement.”
The Tonteg boy has already realised one of his childhood dreams by representing Pontypridd, following in the footsteps of big brother Jordan. “Ever since I started playing for Llantwit Fardre as a youngster, I had aspirations of playing for Ponty. I was even a mascot for some of their games back in the day.
“I looked up to the likes of Dafydd Lockyer and Shellard, so it was weird finally getting to play alongside these guys you aspire to be like. Shellie refers to me as his young Padawan now that I’ve gone to play sevens!”
Alongside his rugby, he works for his father – whose parents came to the UK during the Second World War from Poland – in the family’s car body repair firm, located just 200 yards from Sardis Road. As for what the future holds for Sieniawski in sevens, he’s looking no further than this weekend in Cape Town. “They said ‘come for first leg of the series to see if you enjoy it’. It’s a big thing to be away for 18 days of the month for half a year, so you’ve got to go at it 100 per cent.”
For what it’s worth, after a taste of the World Series in Dubai, he admits he’s got the sevens bug: “I was a bit in awe going out into the stadium, and Darren wanted me to take in the atmosphere. I can’t wait to get back out there now. The boys tell me the Cape Town crowds are amazing.
“Friday can’t come soon enough, if I’m honest.”​
Wales’ Cape Town fixtures, Pool B (all times GMT):
Friday – New Zealand v Wales, 18:53
Saturday – Argentina v Wales, 10:45; Canada v Wales, 16:35
