Gareth Baber’s side finished as runners up in the European qualifying tournament in Hanover after defeat in the Cup final 26-12 by top seeds Portugal.
Third placed Georgia, Ireland and Plate winners Italy also booked thier places in Dubai next March. England, France and Scotland will be the other European teams in Dubai having pre-qualified through their 2005 quarter-final places in Hong Kong.
Baber said, “We were disappointed to lose to Portugal in the final but you’ve got to be realistic too. It’s a seven man game and you need everyone to stay fit in order to be able to rotate your squad and share the work load, especially in a two-day, seven-match tournament.
“We are pleased to have qualified for the Rugby World Cup, our performances here and in winning the recent Denmark and Georgia qualifiers to get to Hanover in the first place are a result of a lot of hard work by the squad throughout the season, and through the experiences gained from participating in the IRB Sevens World Series.”
Gareth Chapman and Lee Williams scored tries in the final, with a conversion for Williams. Earlier, Wales managed a narrow 19-14 win over Georgia in the Cup semis, with two tries from Cornish Pirates’ Rhodri McAtee.
Wales, along with Portugal and Georgia all qualified on Saturday, their four wins from four pool matches on day one at the AWD Arena meant that they finished in the top two of their pools and reached the Cup semi-finals. Georgia beat Ireland 26-7 in the third place play-off on Sunday, while Italy beat Spain 24-17 to clinch the last qualification spot.
In the Pool stages, Wales beat Poland 38-0, Ireland 26-14, Ukraine 21-17 and Italy 33-12 on Saturday to qualify with a day to spare. However, Baber’s team, core members of the IRB Sevens World Series, didn’t have it all their own way.
Wales trailed at half-time against Ireland in their second match and then needed Gareth Chapman’s try to deny Ukraine a famous victory after they had fought back from 14-0 to lead 17-14 with tries from Jaba Malaguradze, Ruslan Tserkovniy and Giorgi Todradze.
Wales were convincing 33-12 winners over Belgium, with Andy Powell adding their final try despite being down to four men after picking up three yellow cards.
Baber’s 12-man squad had been reduced to nine ahead of the final, with James Lewis and Dafydd Hewitt picking up injuries on Day One, and Rhodri McAtee in the semi-final on Day Two.
