Two teams will be relegated from the series this weekend and demoted to ‘Division A’ but Wales head to France in confident mood after finishing ninth last weekend in the first round which was held in Moscow where Nia Davies led her side to a 14-0 Bowl final victory over Belgium to earn ninth place.
Wales had to bounce back from two earlier pool defeats to Spain (26-5) and France (29-7) before earning a 21-14 victory over Germany.
Wales followed that up with a comfortable 38-0 win over Sweden in the Bowl semi-finals to march into the final.
The Grand Prix series is also being used to qualify teams for this year’s 2014/15 IRB World Sevens Women’s Series Qualifier.
One of Wales’ opponents this weekend – England – have already qualified while another opponent, France, have eyes on qualification as well so Wales will have to be on their toes.
Wales have made two changes to their squad for Brive, with Adi Taviner and Robyn Wilkins coming into the squad.
Head coach Rhys Edwards is happy with the progress his side have made in a relatively short time, pointing out that this time last year Wales lost the Bowl final but 12 months on won it comfortably against Belgium.
“The girls learned some harsh lessons last week. We could have actually finished higher up the rankings but some sloppiness in defence cost us dearly,” he said.
“You simply can’t switch off in Sevens – you have to keep the focus for every single of the game. The fact we let in some soft tries cost us on points difference. The fact we have made changes shows the players have to perform as we are now a ‘performance’ team – every second counts.
“Adi [Taviner] and Robyn [Wilkins] will add some physicality to the squad in Brive. We know it’s going to be tough but the girls are capable of getting results.”
Wales Women’s Sevens squad for Brive:
Laurie Harries
Rhiannon Parker
Elen Evans
Adi Taviner
Elinor Snowsill
Robyn Wilkins
Elli Norkett
Sioned Harries
Nia Davies
Sian Williams
Philippa Tuttiett
Rachel Taylor
