Six new players are included in the team, four of whom have recently starred for Wales U20 (Phil Jones, Cameron Lewis, Will Talbot-Davies and George Gasson) and one of whom, Tomi Lewis, was in fine form for Wales U18 in their victories against South Africa and England in August. Durham University’s Cai Devine has featured for Wales Sevens in European competition, and will complement the experienced likes of Adam Thomas and Luke Treharne in the side.
Williams says: “We’re at the start of such a big year for our squad, with the Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cup Sevens also to come in 2018, and the inclusion of these new players adds to that excitement.
“The continued relationship with the regions is getting stronger and we are delighted to be working with them in relation to George Gasson, Will Talbot-Davies, Phil Jones, Cam Lewis and Tomi Lewis’s continued development.
“The inclusion of Cai Devine is a fantastic result of our sevens-specific development programme that has brought him through Rugby Europe’s Grand Prix Series and into our first World Series event of the season. We are excited by Cai’s potential for the future and he gets early exposure at this top level. He has taken a lot of what has been thrown at him in his stride, therefore I expect him to grasp this opportunity just as seamlessly.”
Binding the squad together is the core group of full-time Wales Sevens players which, along with Thomas and Treharne, includes Ethan Davies, Lloyd Evans, Joe Jenkins, Owen Jenkins and Luke Morgan. “The boys have been fantastic in pre-season and we are looking forward to starting the campaign for real,” says Williams, whose team lifted the Elche 7s trophy in October. “The tournament in Spain was a great starting point for us, but tournament days of the World Series are what we go through all the prep for. We are really excited and, although it’s still a young group, the experience and quality of our core players will be invaluable to us.”
With the challenge of so many prominent tournaments on the horizon for Wales, Williams uses the word “epic” to describe the upcoming season. “We are adding depth to our squad, as well as quality. Our programme has developed a new facet over the summer. We have not considered three core players for this event due to their involvement at senior fifteen-a-side rugby: Morgan Williams and Ben Roach being in demand with Scarlets and Dragons commitments in the Pro14, and Sam Cross being involved with the national squad. This is excellent, as these are examples of sevens-specific players being acknowledged as adding true value throughout Welsh rugby.”
Wales will wear their new kit in Dubai – launched earlier today – and depart for the UAE this weekend. They face Australia, Fiji and Russia in their pool.
Wales Sevens Squad (Dubai): Luke Treharne (Wales Sevens); Tomi Lewis (Scarlets); Phil Jones (Ospreys); Luke Morgan (Wales Sevens); Owen Jenkins (Wales Sevens); Cameron Lewis (Cardiff Blues); Ethan Davies (Wales Sevens); Lloyd Evans (Wales Sevens); Adam Thomas (Wales Sevens); Cai Devine (Durham University); Will Talbot-Davies (Dragons); George Gasson (Dragons); Joe Jenkins (Wales Sevens/Ospreys).
