Unable to make it back-to-back victories against Fiji in their opening match (losing 34-19, with tries from Sam Cross, Luke Morgan and Ben Roach), Wales next faced Argentina. A flurry of late tries were needed to win the game, but none later than Roach’s match-winning effort down the left wing which – added to scores from Ethan Davies and Cross – gave Wales a 21-14 victory.
The intensity continued to build as Wales then met Samoa in their final game of the pool, which proved to be just as much of a comeback as the previous match for the men in red. Cory Allen, back in the squad for the first time since 2013, notched up a brace of tries, with Morgan also scoring, giving Williams’s team a 21-14 win.
Alas, a shock victory for Los Pumas against Fiji, their first since 2012, saw the Islanders top the group with Argentina in second place – the latter sealing their spot in the Cup quarter-finals ahead of Wales by a single point, thanks to a breathtaking touchline conversion with time already on the clock.
“It’s been one of the most surreal days I have experienced in my time coaching on the series,” admitted head coach Gareth Williams. “Winning two games and missing out to an injury time conversion by Argentina in their win over Fiji is as much of a kick in the proverbial as I’ve ever had.”
As gut-wrenching as missing out on a Cup quarter-final spot by a single point may be, the victories against Argentina and Samoa pleased the coach. “We showed great character and quality to win those two matches, but it was not meant to be,” he said. “There were a few soft tries we conceded during the day that came back to bite us, and this will become a huge learning curve as we keep gathering lessons and progress towards the Commonwealth Games and World Cup in 2018.”
Williams said he didn’t need reminding of the emotionally turbulent nature of the game. “We could easily be sat here with three wins after a very poor refereeing decision took the Fijian game away from us. Needless to say, the boys are bitterly disappointed, but the beauty of this game is that we get to go again tomorrow. Our focus has been on applying ourselves consistently and, to be fair, we have been doing that. Were it not for a wonder kick at goal, we would be sat in a Cup quarter-final The margins are so small!”
Wales Sevens will face Japan in the Challenge Trophy quarter-finals at 17:36 GMT. More info here.
