There is an exchange of core players in the squad for Lodz, with 2016/17’s HSBC World Series second-top points scorer Ethan Davies in for Owen Jankins, and Durham University’s Cai Devine also joins the fray.
“Owen led the team very well in Russia, and gained invaluable experience from that,” says Pugh. “It’s good to have Ethan return to the squad, while there is now an opportunity for fellow core player Lloyd Evans to captain the team and take up that leadership challenge in this young group.”
A week ago in Moscow, Pugh blooded a whole host of new players in tough encounters against the likes of Ireland, Germany, Georgia and Belgium.
“It was a challenging weekend for the boys in what was the first international experience for a lot of them,” says Pugh. “The most pleasing aspect was how they took on the challenge and improved game by game. It was a steep learning curve against some very strong and experienced European teams.”
According to Pugh, the biggest lessons his team would learn was the importance of ball retention and skill execution, not to mention how quickly turnovers can result in conceding a try.
“We showed promise and looked dangerous with ball in hand but it was just to often that the final pass went to ground or turnover cost us,” he says. “The best part now is that we can build momentum from our improvements as we head into Poland. We’ve only made two changes to the squad so I’m sure that consistency and experience from last week will bode well as we look to compete against the top teams.”
Pugh expects another testing weekend, with Wales drawn with Russia, Italy and England in the competition.
Wales squad for Lodz Sevens
1 Chay Smith (Newport)
2 Lloyd Evans (c) (Wales Sevens)
3 Cai Devine (Durham University)
4 Joe Jenkins (Swansea)
5 Max George (Cross Keys/Penalta)
6 Jacob Flynn (Aberavon)
7 Stef Andrews (Aberavon)
8 Ethan Davies (Wales Sevens)
9 Daf Smith (Cardiff and Vale College)
10 Ben Roach (Wales Sevens)
11 Lloyd Lewis (Newport Gwent Dragons)
12 Elliot Frewen (Newport)
