Engaged in a relegation battle with Kenya and Japan, Wales were positioned between both sides in the rankings going into London last weekend, but wins against Spain and Japan at Twickenham made for a positive penultimate tournament.
Richie Pugh’s side are now three points above Kenya and five clear of Japan, but the head coach is blunt in his assessment of where his team lies in the table, saying: “We’re nowhere near safe. It’s all about our performances on day two, but we’ll go at day one as best we can. We’ll aim for top eight, but it comes down to day two – that’s where points are picked up.”
If Wales can deliver as they did at Twickenham when it counted, Pugh is confident his team will do well. “In London, even our performances against America and Australia were good, and we took some of those positives into our game against Spain, who until then we hadn’t beaten in a long time.”
That result set Wales up for a Trophy Quarter-Final match against Japan, which Pugh described as a ‘double-or-nothing’ encounter with regard to points. In the event, Wales controlled their way to a crucial 17-0 win against a side that would later go on to pull off a huge result against hosts England, winning 29-14.
Having landed in the French capital on Monday, the players have been given time to recover from their Twickenham exertions, with key players such as Tom Rogers and Ethan Davies now back to full fitness. Morgan Williams, whose often sumptuous displays at Twickenham got the crowd on their feet, has returned to Scarlets. Joe Jenkins, who performed equally well in London, is brought into the matchday squad, with Dafydd Smith named as 13th man.
Richie Rees, who assisted Pugh in London, is back with Cardiff Blues, allowing Dragons Academy head coach Matt O’Brien to step into his place. “Matt was with us in Sydney and Hamilton earlier this year,” explained Pugh. “It’s great to have these young coaches with their energy and experience coming in, and they know the players from the academies. It’s another good thing the sevens programme provides, and it benefits me as a head coach too.”
With the sevens reliant on regional players providing the lion’s share of the squad through various stages of the season, Pugh says the benefits are twofold. “The players themselves know how much sevens is helping them, and part of that is allowing their coaches to see first-hand what the World Series is about – so they know what boys are going through. We take pride in challenging the players and exposing them to this environment, but it’s even better when their coaches can see what they’re doing.”
Pool B, Paris Sevens: RSA v WAL, 10:44 BST, AUS v WAL, 14:32, WAL v KEN, 17:36​. Live on Sky Sports.
