For the first time in history, Wales came away from a tournament having lowered the colours of two of the three best teams in the world. Both New Zealand and Fiji were on the receiving end of defeats as Wales proved they are a force to be reckoned with in the abbreviated version of the game.
This weekend a different looking Welsh squad takes part in the American leg in San Diego where they will face Fiji, Argentina and Mexico in Pool D.
Of the Wales squad that competed in Wellington, Aled Brew, Aled Thomas and Dafydd Hewitt have traveled home to be replaced by Josh Turnbull, Jimmy Norris and Chris Czekaj, who makes his first foray into international rugby since suffering a horrific leg injury in June 2007.
Team manager Dai Jenkins has no doubt that last weekend’s Welsh performance will take some beating.
“That was the best ever performance by Wales. We have never beaten two of the best three teams in the world in the same tournament before – the boys played really well,” he said.
“We’ve had some good boys come out and join the squad. We need continuity and this weekend is a huge challenge. We’ve just got to play the patterns consistently and hopefully the rewards will come. It’s a big ask for the group.
“We’d like to get to the quarter-finals again and from there anything can happen. But we need to be reaching the top eight on a regular basis.
“There is hardly anything between the top 10 sides in this competition. Everyone of those top teams can beat the other in any given moment. Even the fourth teams, usually considered the weakest in the group, have the ability to beat those seeded above them so you’ve always got to be on top of your game.”
