Wales Sevens will get their first competitive run-out under new head coach Darren Edwards this weekend in the Spanish city of Elche – and name three Dragons in the squad for the tournament.
With the new World Rugby Sevens Series season kicking off in Dubai in just under a month, Edwards will have a timely opportunity to see the talent at his disposal.
The squad includes four young newcomers in Cardiff Blues fly-half Rhys Davies, Dragons centre Tom Hoppe, Swansea University wing Brandon Wood and Ospreys fullback Caine Woolerton.
Captained by Luke Treharne, fresh from his successful stint with the Barbarians at last month’s inaugural RugbyX tournament at The O2, Wales will take on Russia, China and hosts Spain in their pool matches on Saturday.
The squad features four players – Treharne, Ben Roach, Cai Devine and Cameron Lewis – who were part of the Wales side that won Elche 7s two years ago.
New core player Alex Grey made his first appearance for Wales in last season’s final tournament in Poland, whilst there are returns for Ospreys back Ben Cambriani and Dragons and Wales U20 speedsters Joe Goodchild and Rio Dyer after all three made eye-catching turns on the World Series last season.
The tournament website will host a live stream of all the weekend’s action here, whilst there will also be minute-by-minute match updates.
Core Players: Luke Treharne, Ben Roach, Cameron Lewis, Cai Devine, Alex Grey, Dafydd Smith, Jay Jones Cardiff Blues: Rhys Davies Dragons: Joe Goodchild. Rio Dyer, Tom Hoppe Ospreys: Ben Cambriani, Caine Woolerton Swansea University: Brandon Wood.
Wales’ Elche 7s Pool Fixtures, Saturday 8th November:
Wales v Russia, 11:20
Spain v China, 14:40
Spain v Wales, 18:10
*all times local (GMT +1)
