The squad is a mixture of experience with the likes of Rachel Taylor, Sian Williams and Amy Day among those who played in the Women’s Rugby World Cup in France this summer while rookies Keira Bevan and Melissa Clay are bringing plenty of youthful enterprise to the squad.
Wales Women’s head coach Rhys Edwards is looking forward to the tournament and believes he has got the mix just right.
“Keira is only 17 years old but we believe she is an exciting prospect at scrum half while Mel was picked up from the successful Talent Identification day we had. She performed really well in our training camp in Biarritz and forced her way into the squad and we’ve also brought in winger Jasmine Joyce who has shown plenty of potential.
“Elinor Snowsill will captain the squad but we have the luxury of having experienced players Rachel Taylor and Adi Taviner as additional leaders.
“It will be interesting to see how the players cope in this competitive environment in front of big crowds. Hopefully we can use this tournament as a springboard looking ahead to next season’s Six Nations.”
Edwards will be assisted on the coaching front by Richie Pugh is Lead Sevens coach. The former Sevens star won World Cup glory at the same venue with Wales in 2009.
Wales kick of the tournament on Thursday with a match against Kenya before taking on Moscow, Georgia and Ireland. Despite being in a tough pool Wales are hoping to reach the knockout stages of the tournament.
Wales Women’s Sevens squad for Dubai
Keira Bevan (Skewen /Ospreys)
Rafiuke Taylor (Pontyclun /Blues)
Melissa Clay (Pencoed /Ospreys)
Amy Day (Llandaf/Dragons)
Sioned Harries (Whitland/Scarlet’s)
Laurie Harries (Llandaf/Blues)
Jasmine Joyce (Haverdford West /Cardiff Met/ Scarlets)
Elinor Snowsill (Bristol/Dragons)
Adi Taviner (Skewen/Ospreys)
Rachel Taylor (Bristol/Dragons)
Sian Williams (Worcester/Dragons)
Dyddgu Hywel (Pontyclun/Scarlets)
