Wales’ key play maker Lee Williams is among the four changes for the next two rounds of the HSBC Sevens World Series in Dubai and South Africa.
Having reached the quarter-finals of the opening round on the Gold Coast in Australia last month, Wales head coach Gareth Williams has recalled Williams to the squad along with Ospreys duo Lloyd Evans and Aled Jenkins and Newport Gwent Dragons’ Steffan Jones.
Garyn Smith, Alex Webber, Luke Treharne and Tom Williams are those stepping down for the double header where Wales are looking to build on their promising displays in Australia.
Wales have drawn South Africa, Portugal and Canada for their pool in Dubai and have realistic ambitions of replicating their achievements from round one and aim to reach the Cup knockout stages once again.
“Two quarter-finals minimum is the target from our point of view,” said head coach Williams. “We will be pushing hard to obtain those targets – we have got our own little targets in-house and we have certain expectations of ourselves – we weren’t far off at the Gold Coast.
“We came back from the Gold Coast knowing we were in a position that we could have sneaked a win against South Africa in the first pool game and with two and a half minutes to go against Fiji we were still in that game. But a little bit of in-experience saw us kick the ball away and we didn’t see the ball again against a very good Fijian side for the rest of the game.
“The players have really been going at each other during camp and they are realising positions are up for grabs no matter how well players have done in the past, so it’s pleasing to see we are building a bit of strength in depth in the process.
Wales Sevens squad for Dubai and South Africa:
- Lee Williams (Carmarthen Quins)
- Tomos Williams (Cardiff Blues)
- Rhodri Davies (Llandovery)
- Luke Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons)
- Will Harries (Ealing)
- Aled Jenkins (Ospreys)
- Steffan Jones (Newport Gwent Dragons)
- Lloyd Evans (Ospreys)
- Sion Bennett (Scarlets)
- Craig Price (Scarlets)
- Jason Harries (Carmarthen Quins)
- Jevon Groves (Cardiff Blues – Captain)
Round 2, Dubai 5-6 December
Round 3, South Africa 13-14 December
