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Wales Sevens claim Shield in Sydney

Wales Sevens claim Shield in Sydney

Wales Sevens may have picked up their first silverware of a demanding HSBC Sevens World Series campaign in Sydney but head coach Gareth Williams is already demanding improvement from his young side for the next two legs next month.

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Williams is in charge of a side which carries fewer tournament experience than any other side in the World Series.

His young side is having to learn lessons the hard way on what is an extremely tough circuit.

With four rounds of the series now completed, Wales are yet to reach the Cup quarter-finals but after claiming the Shield final with a gutsy 24-19 win over Russia at Allianz Stadium on Sunday, Williams is hoping the success will provide a shot in the arm to the team’s prospects looking ahead to next month’s legs in Las Vegas and Vancouver.

“It was pleasing to finish day two with two wins,” he said. “The inconsistencies from Wellington [a week earlier] were still apparent, especially in certain phases of our play in the group stage and especially in our application at the start of day two.”

Wales suffered heavy defeats to USA and England during pool play but finished the day well with a victory against Japan.

However familiar problems haunted Wales in the Bowl quarter-final where they gave away possession cheaply and Canada made them pay dearly. Wales re-grouped in the Shield to defeat France before claiming the final with a fine display against Russia.

“Despite some people’s perception, these are not traits that sit comfortably amongst the squad and there are a group of young players working hard to improve themselves individually and collectively,” explained Williams.

“Their development is being judged on a hugely competitive performance stage and small gains are difficult to be seen purely in the context of results.

“Our ambition is to improve on the results obviously, and lessons are being taken by the most inexperienced squad on the Series each tournament at a time.

“The wider squad will reconvene pretty quickly in anticipation of the next two legs and the exciting challenge that faces them.”

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