For the third World Series tournament in a row, they had been drawn with New Zealand first up – and it was the number one team on the circuit who ran away with it, winning 47-0.
Wales’ best performance of the weekend came in their second pool match, when a see-saw encounter against Scotland saw Darren Edwards’ men score three tries (one from captain Ben Roach and a brace for Jay Jones) before the Scots struck late on to edge it 24-19.
The young team in red were unable to cross the line against the USA, who ran in six tries of their own, before a 21-7 loss to Samoa (try by Dafydd Smith).
Ben Roach, captain in Hamilton, said: “It was a tough weekend for us. We are disappointed with results and in a game of fine margins we left a few opportunities out there which could have changed momentum in games.”
However, Roach added: “We are a tight group who will learn from this and build into next weekend in Sydney.”
With attentions turning to Australia (1st-2nd Feb), Wales will go in search of the results that will allow them to make a much-needed climb up the World Series rankings.
