Scarlets wing Tal Selley ended up as the leading try scorer with nine touchdowns and Ospreys outside half James Hook was fifth highest points scorer with 46 the week after leading the way in Dubai. All in all, it amounts to a highly successful experiment for Wales, who will return to sevens action in Melbourne next year, and one which had coach Dai Rees purring.
“It’s great to win a second successive Bowl, but it could have been so much more,” said Rees. “The guys were gutted at what happened when Argentina’s victory over New Zealand relegated Wales from the Cup to the Plate. But, to be fair to them, they got themselves up for the competition and performed very well.
“We’ve only lost one game this tournament – against New Zealand – and two last week, against Fiji and Samoa, That’s not a bad start after a two year break.
“I think we’ve conjured some real interest in sevens rugby in Wales and now we’ll look to build on this in the Commonwealth Games. The bulk of these boys will go there, but we will be looking to bring in some more firepower if possible.”
While the Fijians, the reigning Sevens Rugby World Cup champions, went on to beat Argentina 21-19 in the final of the Cup competition, and Samoa defeated New Zealand to take the Plate final, Wales beat Namibia 41-0 in their Bowl quarter-final before struggling a little to pip Zimbabwe 22-19 in the semi-finals.
The Bowl final was against Portugal and Wales came up trumps for the second week running to keep a firm grip on the trophy with a 34-14 win.
