It was the second successive tournament in which Wales have been edged out by South Africa, the Springboks having triumphed against the Welsh team in last weekend’s London Sevens at Twickenham.
“I thought we had a real chance of beating them but we made a few wrong decisions and that cost us. There’s a very fine line now in international sevens between winning and losing,” said Wales Sevens coach Paul John.
He added: “But I’m proud of what the boys have achieved over the past fortnight. They’ve put in a tremendous effort. But these were two tough semi finals in two weekends and at the end of it there were very few points between us.
“It’s taken us three years to reach a semi final and then we get two in a row. We’re playing well just now and looking dangerous when we have the ball,” stated John.
The Edinburgh Sevens marked a final curtain for skipper Jevon Groves who is taking up a full time contract with the Dragons and Gareth Davies who is doing likewise with the Blues. “They’ve been outstanding for us. I wish them well in their rugby careers,” said John.
Wales began the second day at Murrayfield facing France in the Cup quarter finals. The expectation was that Wales would be too strong for the French side but in the event it was France who made the first and only breakthrough in the first half with a converted try by playmaker Paul Albaladejo for a 7-0 interval lead.
Two minutes into the second half Albaladejo added to his tally with a drop goal, emulating his famous relative, Pierre Albalejo, dubbed ‘Monsieur Le Drop’. The score spurred Wales into action and when Nicky Griffith broke through the French defence, Adam Thomas was on hand to score.
Then with only seconds of the tie remaining Wales launched a series of attacks that ended with skipper Jevon Groves crossing for the equalising try. The conversion attempt by Gareth Davies however, drifted wide, leaving the teams tied at the end of full time.
Six minutes into ‘sudden death’ extra time a penalty goal by Gareth Owen gave Wales a 13-10 victory and a place in the semi final of the Cup against South Africa.
In a tense semi final Wales, who have never beaten South Africa on the global circuit, struck first with an unconverted try in the corner by the ever-improving Alex Cuthbert. Then after Cuthbert put a big hit on playmaker Cecil Afrika the ball spilled forward before being picked up by Kristian Phillips for the Ospreys flier to race to the line and touch down under the posts leaving Gareth Owen with an easy conversion.
But right on half time South Africa worked the ball right for Bernado Botha to score leaving Wales ahead 12-5 at the break. The lead was reduced when Kyle Brown touched down in the corner and wiped out with a third South Africa try, this time from Steve Hunt. Wales still had hopes of a win but when Paul Delport chased a kick ahead for his side’s fourth try it was all over for Wales, despite a converted try on full time by Cuthbert that left Wales squeezed out in a 22-19 defeat.
South Africa then went on to win the Cup, coming from behind to beat Australia by the narrowest of margins with a 36-35 win.
Wales Sevens squad: Jevon Groves (capt, Dragons), Gareth Davies (Cardiff), Rhys Shellard (Cardiff), Richie Pugh (Scarlets), Alex Cuthbert (Blues), Nicky Griffiths (Dragons), Adam Thomas (Pontypridd), Warren Davies (Tonmawr), Kristian Phillips (Ospreys), Ifan Evans (Llandovery), Gareth Owen (Ospreys), Will Price (Aberavon)
