Williams joins players like Jamie Ringer and Gareth Wyatt, who both have around a decade of playing international sevens under their belts, along with fellow full internationals Richie Pugh and Tal Selley, in a party that also has a liberal helping of youth. They include the likes of Gloucester’s James Merriman, who captained Wales to U21 Grand Slam glory last season, and the Ospreys and Wales U21 fly half James Hook – the leading points scorer after the first two rounds of the IRB World Series in Dubai and George in 2005.
“I gained plenty of valuable sevens experience during a number of years as a player and now I am looking forward to the new challenge of being involved with the Wales squad as assistant coach,” said 33-year-old Baber. “I played with Jamie and Gareth and, going into a tournament like the Commonwealth Games, your need that sort of experience to manage the separate environment of sevens because it can be intimidating for younger players.
“But while players like Jamie, Gareth and Rhys are players who have been there and done it and know what is expected of them I could not believe how quickly the players gelled as a team in Dubai and how youngsters like James Hook, Wayne Evans and Rhodri McAtee stood up and did as well as other far more experienced players and made names for themselves.
“In the recent Dubai and George tournaments we did really well so, while not setting our sights to high, I am confident we can compete with the top teams and I would love to see us in a position of having qualified for the quarter-finals and pushing for a place in the semis. However, we are under no illusions on how difficult it is going to be.”
The competition takes place in Melbourne’s Telstra Dome on March 16-17 and the newly-reformed Welsh Sevens set-up has been pitched into Pool A with New Zealand – the defending Commonwealth champions who won their sixth IRB Sevens title last season. Kenya and Namibia make up the remaining spaces in the pool.
“New Zealand always have a strong sevens squad and we most certainly will not be under-estimating Kenya and Namibia. They regularly play in world-class tournaments and will be tough to beat – we are going to have to battle hard to get a quarter-final spot,” Baber added.
Wales reappeared on the world sevens stage for the first time in three years when the squad helped to kick-off the IRB World Series in Dubai in November 2005. The Commonwealth Games competition is set to coincide with the 2006 Six Nations tournament and the squad will return to the famous Hong Kong Sevens tournament on their way home from the Games.
Team Wales Director of Operations, David Evans said: “We are delighted that the WRU have been able to source a squad of players with such a rich blend of youth and experience and it will be fantastic for these players to compete against some of the greatest sevens players in the world. Competing within the highly charged atmosphere of Telstra Dome at the heart of the Games, will no doubt inspire our team as they aim to progress to the final stages in what promises to be a closely contested competition.”
TEAM COACH – David Rees
TEAM MANAGER – David Jenkins
ASSISTANT COACH – Gareth Baber
FITNESS COACH – Steve Richards
PLAYERS:
Richie PUGH – Capt. (Ospreys)
Rhys WILLIAMS (Blues)
Rhodri McATEE (Penzance)
James HOOK (Ospreys)
James MERRIMAN (Gloucester Rugby)
Jonathan EDWARDS (Scarlets)
Jamie RINGER (Dragons)
Lee BEECH (Ospreys)
Wayne EVANS (Blues)
Gareth WYATT (Dragons)
Tal SELLEY (Scarlets)
Jonathan VAUGHTON (Ospreys)
