The top four teams from last season’s Principality Premiership were seeded for the draw that took place today (Friday), at the WRU’s National Centre of Excellence with top seeds Pontypridd drawing the Welsh All Blacks for a mouth-watering fixture to kick off matters at 10.20am.
The other seeds Llandovery and Llanelli were drawn against SWALEC Championship sides Bargoed and Ebbw Vale respectively, while Bedwas face fellow Premiership side Aberavon.
The rest of the schedule was drawn at random with a Wales Students side set to play Carmarthen Quins in what should be a highly competitive Game 2 with the Quins boasting three members of the Wales Sevens squad that recently competed at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow, and many of the Wales Students squad experienced on the GB Sevens circuit.
In the other first round matches, Bridgend play Cross Keys, Cardiff play Newport and Swansea take on Championship newcomers RGC 1404.
The winners of those opening eight encounters will continue into the Cup quarter-finals, while the losers will go into a knock-out Plate competition.
Wales Sevens head coach Paul John said: “The beauty of this competition is that the standard will be good throughout and the nature of Sevens is that anyone can beat anyone else on the day. We haven’t had a competition that pits all these teams against each other before, so to a certain extent there will be some unknown entities.
“However, many of our national Sevens players will play a key part for their clubs on the day and there will no doubt be some talented academy players showcasing their talent.”
With his Pontypridd hat on, John added: “We have a tough draw with Neath, and then if we win that one we have Carmarthen Quins or Wales Students so there are no easy matches.
“With my national role in mind, I will certainly be keeping a close eye on all the players as much as possible – we are always looking for good Sevens players for the IRB circuit and to develop them as better 15 a side players.”
Cross Keys coach Greg Woods said: “We’ve always been supportive of local sevens competitions in our area but so we’re looking forward to performing on the national stage. We’ll be playing our best available side so we’re really excited about it.
“Playing on the new artificial pitch at the Arms Park will be good and a learning experience for the season to come. When we’re there on the day we’ll be going all out to win and it will be good to put a marker down for the season ahead.”
Joshua Davies of Neath said: “Every team wants to do well and we’re really excited about this tournament. It looks like it will be a great day out, not only for all the players but for the fans too and a great way to get ready for the start of the season.”
RGC 1404’s Callum Bennett added: “We’re really looking forward to this competition. It’s great to be able to test ourselves against some of the best teams in Wales as that’s what we’re all about – developing north Wales players. We are looking forward to the Championship season and are aiming to do as well as we possibly can.”
Foster’s National Sevens
Cardiff Arms Park Sunday 25 August
Round One games:
GAME 1 Pontypridd v Neath
1020 hrs
GAME 2 Wales Students v Carmarthen
1040 hrs
GAME 3 Bridgend v Cross Keys
1100 hrs
GAME 4 Aberavon v Bedwas
1120 hrs
GAME 5 Llandovery v Bargoed
1140 hrs
GAME 6 Cardiff v Newport
1200 hrs
GAME 7 Swansea v RGC 1404
1220 hrs
GAME 8 Ebbw Vale v Llanelli
1240 hrs
The Cup final is due to take place at 6.30pm, and there will be something for everyone throughout the action packed day which will include live music and a family fun area with face painting, rugby skills activities, bouncy castles and more.
Tickets are on sale now at just £10 for adults, £5 for Under 16s and £20 for a family ticket (2 adults, 2 children). Go to wru.co.uk/nationalsevens to purchase tickets or call 0844 8471881 (Ticketmaster) or 02920 230130 (Ticketline). Personal callers can also purchase tickets from the WRU shop, 8 Westgate Street or from Ticketline, 47 Westgate Street.
