Coach Gareth Baber, who was in the last Welsh side to compete at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Argentina in 2001, will have plenty of experience to fall back on in his 10 man squad for what he describes as “a bit of a step into the unknown”.
Wales have to compete at three tournaments around Europe this summer to try to earn enough points to be one of five European qualifiers for the world event in Dubai next March. As well as this weekend’s two day assignment in Denmark, Baber will also be taking his players to Tbilisi, in Georgia, on June 7th/8th and to the final European qualifier in Hanover, Germany, on July 12th/13th.
There will be 10 teams split into two Pools of five at Odense this weekend, with games spread over two days. On Saturday, Wales will face Denmark, Austria, Ireland and Switzerland in their Pool matches and hope to take one of the top two places to qualify for the semi-finals of the Cup competition on Sunday.
The other Pool contains Romania, Belgium, Sweden, Monaco and Luxembourg. Llanelli scrum half Lee Williams will skipper the Welsh squad in Denmark. Baber said, “Over the past year, Lee has become a very capable Sevens player who has gained the respect of his fellow players through his tactical awareness and natural leadership on the field.”
Williams will be joined by a number of players with IRB World Sevens Series experience in Rhodri McAtee, Aled Thomas, Tal Selley, James Lewis, Richie Pugh, Lee Beach and James Merriman.
Wales didn’t take part in the 2005 RWC Sevens tournament and have therefore been forced to pre-qualify for the 2009 event.
“The other teams are going to be something of an unknown quantity to us because we won’t have seen them on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit,” said Baber.
“We’ve got some experienced heads among our squad and it is important to get our qualifying campaign off to a good start in Odense. The aim will be to win the competition to help ensure we can book our passage to Dubai next year.”
Wales Sevens Squad in Denmark: Lee Williams (Llanelli, Captain), Rhodri McAtee (Cornish Pirates), Aled Thomas (Dragons), Tal Selley (Blues), Will Harries (Northampton Saints), James Lewis (Dragons), Richie Pugh (Cardiff), Lee Beach (Neath), James Merriman (Neath), Nick Wakely (Newport)
