Alex Grey, Jake Thomas and Dai Treharne are the newcomers in Richie Pugh’s squad for Rugby Europe’s Grand Prix Series, for what will be the team’s final tournament of the season.
Discussing the rookies, Pugh says: “Dai has lots of sevens experience playing the invitational circuit with the likes of Samurai, so it will be good to give him a run-out in Europe to see how he steps up. It’s a good challenge for him and one I know he’s looking forward to, not least because he gets to link up with his brother, Luke.
“We’ve also got an exciting youngster in the form of Jake Thomas from the Cardiff Blues Academy and Cowbridge. Alex Grey is a former Llandovery College boy who had a good season with Bury St Edmunds under [former Wales Women coach] Nick Wakley. He’s a big, physical player who’s also played a lot of top-level invitational sevens.”
Two young players who make their return to the squad are Max Cunnington (Glamorgan Wanderers) and George Thomas, both of whom were in Rugby Europe action a year ago in Marcoussis.
“It’s a small group with some boys being on their off-season, so we’ve got a balance between our core players in Ethan Davies, Luke Treharne, Afon Bagshaw, Cai Devine, and these new boys coming in,” says Pugh. “It’s another opportunity as well for Daf Smith and Jay Jones to build on their form from Russia, and from what we’ve seen in glimpses on the World Series this year.”
The head coach believes Wales will take confidence from their fifth-place finish in Moscow last time out. “It’s about going out and building on Moscow – despite having a more experienced squad in Russia – but also taking a long-term view with Dubai taking place in December, and wanting to build a squad. That said, there’s no pressure on these boys, it’s just a case of going out and enjoying playing.”
On Saturday, Wales will face Italy and hosts Poland (two teams they beat in Moscow), plus the high-flying Irish. Of the pool draw, he says: “Poland and Italy will be stronger for their experience in Russia, so we’ll be expecting a bigger challenge on that front. Then there’s Ireland, coming off the back off back of a third-place finish in the Olympic repechage, so they’ll be gunning for a big weekend. It’s a good chance for us to go up against one of the best teams in Europe.
“Łódź is a good tournament in a nice football stadium with a good surface to play on. The boys tend to enjoy it, and it’s a nice way to end our season.”
Wales Sevens squad (Łódź): Luke Treharne (c), Dafydd Smith, Jay Jones, Ethan Davies, Cai Devine, Afon Bagshaw, Jake Thomas, Max Cunnington, Lloyd Lewis, Alex Grey, Dai Treharne, George Thomas.
Saturday’s fixtures (times BST):
Wales v Italy, 11:28
Wales v Poland, 14:35
Ireland v Wales, 16:58
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