The side, coached in these tournaments by Gareth Williams, beat Barcelona tournament winners Russia 21-7, before going down 22-7 to Spain. They recovered to beat Moldova (33-10) and drew with the Netherlands 24-24 at the end of Day One.
Williams said: “We had an excellent start in the group stage, beating Russia who won the previous tournament in Barcelona. Having gone up 14-0, Russia came back to 14-14 but we produced a strong second half performance to come out on top. The win was especially pleasing after starting slowly in recent tournaments.
“Spain produced a very impressive Day One performance, winning every game and certainly deserved their win over us in our second game.
“After a difficult first half against a stubborn Moldova side, we managed to shake off their challenge in the second half to reverse the result from Barcelona when we lost 21-19.
“However, once again we showed some inconsistency in our performance in our final Day One game and were disappointed with our showing against the Netherlands, although a try in the dying seconds from eighteen year old Rhys Patchell secured the draw to set up a semi-final decider with England on the morning of Day Two.
“Technically, we dropped a level from Day One, especially in the breakdown and kick-offs, although we did cause problems when we were able to retain possession.
“We rallied to within seven points before England scored a try in the closing minutes, sending us into the Plate semi-final against Georgia.
“The Georgia game was our most disappointing performance of the weekend where we were ineffective in putting our game plan into action, eventually losing 7 – 19 but along with our final game against Italy, where we lost 5-14, it provided another big lesson to our young players in the importance of consistent application of our policies throughout a tournament.
“The Series has been an excellent tool for us as a Sevens management team to view a number of players in an international Sevens competition. The focus will now turn to preparations for the IRB World Series that starts in November, and on how we implement what we have learned about various players to strengthen our campaign.”
Wales Sevens squad for Bucharest: Owen Williams (capt, Pontypridd), Rory Watts Jones (Cardiff), Richard Smith (Cardiff), Craig Price (Llanelli), Will Price (Aberavon), Justin James (Llanelli), Rhodri Williams (Scarlets), Rhys Patchell (Cardiff), Luke Williams (unattached), Jake Randell (Scarlets), Steve Taylor (Cardiff), Steffan Jones (Ysgol Bro Morgannwg)
