The 23-year-old is among six uncapped players in Richie Pugh’s squad who return to the series after a two year absence where France, Kenya and Canada await them in Pool D.
Swannack eschewed the traditional pathway to reach the top, gaining recognition via playing for Hartpury in the BUCS Super Rugby, Bishop’s Stortford in National League One in England and featuring regularly for invitational sevens side Speranza. No stranger to sevens, he has also previously featured for Bristol Bears in the Premiership 7s.
“I’ve never really had the opportunity to represent my country before, so this is kind of the first glimpse of it,” he said. “I missed out on the age grade stuff as I’m somebody who slipped off the pathway route,” he said from the team’s base in Malaga.
Swannack began playing as a six-year-old with home town club Wattstown and attended Ysgol Gyfun Cymer. He went through the Cardiff Blues Age Grade system and played for Coleg y Cymoedd in the Welsh Schools and Colleges League before heading over the Severn Bridge to study sports science.
Being plucked from obscurity and training with the Welsh squad has been a whirlwind for the full-back, but he’s taken everything in his stride so far.
“It’s like it a dream come true, the first time putting on the Welsh jersey – not many people can say they can do that, so I’m really looking forward to the opportunity.
“Obviously it is a great honour for myself, everybody back home has been wishing me well. Around the area I’m from, everyone is pretty close-knit. Back in the Rhondda it’s a small town, I’ve had so many messages which has been pretty overwhelming.
“Family have come out this week which will be amazing for them. For me it’s a proud moment and for the family – I’m just buzzing and can’t wait to get amongst it and enjoy the moment as it doesn’t come around often.”
Cole Swannack in full flow at a training session in Wales
Swannack admits to a slight culture shock inside Pugh’s Welsh camp, as Speranza are player-led on the domestic sevens circuit and don’t even possess a coach!
“We turn out for a bit of fun, that’s what Speranza is about, playing with your mates, we don’t have a coach as we’re player led. We’re basically friends who enjoy playing with each other just throwing the ball about so it’s been quite a transition in regards to structure and detail but the boys have been great giving me guidance,” he explained.
While there is plenty of raw talent in the squad, there is no shortage of experience either with Luke Treharne, Tom Williams and Morgan Williams having represented Great Britain in the opening two rounds of this campaign while Owen Jenkins, Lloyd Evans and Lloyd Lewis all have experience on the world series.
“I’ve been chatting to Luke and especially Tom Williams a lot as they play in similar positions to me in the backs so I try and pick up on little things. The kind of experience they’ve got, I’m learning new things constantly,” said Swannack.
“I’m quite a versatile player anyway but it’s been great just to learn off them boys. Someone like Luke has nearly 50 appearances on the World Series. I’ve been picking their brains a little bit because it is going to be a step up. The biggest thing for me is just the transition from playing invitation sevens to the World Series – there’s more expectation on things like work rate, every little bit of detail and so on, so it’s a huge difference.”
Dream come true, excited to get going 🏉🏴 https://t.co/0wZSLumYEC
— cole swannack (@ColeSwannack) January 17, 2022
Swannack said the squad aren’t placing any pressure on themselves on their return to the big stage.
“As a team I think it is about controlling what we can control and doing our jobs, making sure every little bit of detail is ticked off. We work hard for each other and back each other in what we do, and making sure we’re all on the same page.
“Personally I think as long as I have given 100% and left everything out on the field, be confident, enjoy the moment, if I do that then I think the rest will take care of itself.
“I trust my ability, I’m here for a reason, I’ve just got to be confident and express myself and then everything else will take care of itself.”
Wales Sevens squad for Malaga
1 Lloyd Evans (Aberavon)
2 Callum Carson (Ospreys)
3 Frankie Souto (Dragons)
4 Morgan MacRae (Scarlets)
5 Tom Brown (Wales 7s)
6 Luke Treharne (Wales 7s)
7 Arthur Lennon (Speranza 7s)
8 Tom Williams (Wales 7s)
9 Morgan Williams (Wales 7s)
10 Owen Jenkins (Dragons)
11 Lloyd Lewis (Wales 7s / Pontypool)
12 Ewan Rosser (Dragons)
13 Cole Swannack (Speranza 7s)
Playing schedule for Malaga Sevens
Fri 21 Jan
Wales v France – 10.44am
Wales v Kenya – 3.06pm
Sat 22 Jan
Wales v Canada 10.27am
then Knock-Out stages
