The Pontypridd flanker was in the running for the Welsh side four years ago but missed out on head coach Paul John’s final selection. Wales went on to stun the rugby world when they defeated tournament favourites New Zealand in the quarter-finals before going on to win the final against Argentina to be crowned champions of the world in the shortened version of the game.
Four years on and Shellard finds himself as the most experienced member in Wales’ World Cup squad of 2013, having appeared in 35 tournaments on the HSBC Sevens World Series.
“It would mean everything to me to get to the final, to be honest,” said Shellard, who celebrated his 28th birthday on Tuesday.
“I was in the training squad when the boys went to the last World Cup four years ago and for them to go out and win the World Cup was a great achievement – fair play to the boys. If we could get anywhere near the final and win it, well, that would be a great achievement as well.”
Despite being one of the first names on Paul John’s team sheet all season, Shellard said he never took it for granted that he was an automatic choice for the World Cup.
“I think a lot of boys put their hands up for selection over the last season and especially over the last four weeks in training so I’m just one of the lucky ones to be selected.
“It’s always tense when you’re waiting to see if you have been selected for the squad throughout the season on the World Series circuit, but with World Cup selection only coming around once every four years a lot of boys were worried before the team was announced,” he added.
Wales have been grouped alongside Fiji, Tonga and Uruguay in Pool E and although New Zealand enter the tournament as firm favourites, the South Sea Islands challenge will once again be spearheaded by the Fijians. But Shellard adds that you under-estimate the smaller nations at your peril.
“We’ve got quite a tough group but our chances are just as good as anyone else’s. I think Fiji in our group will know that as well. Tonga and Uruguay are not there just to make up the numbers either.
“We’ve seen it throughout the season that no team can take anyone else for granted – even the so called smaller nations have caused upsets throughout the last World Series so we won’t be taking anything for granted when we begin our defence of the title.”
