“What these girls have put in to get where we are is incredible,” says Wakley following Wales’ fifth-placed finish. “They’ve emptied the tanks in training and on the field. Russia is a tough place to come and compete, but everybody just got on with it, and that shows the quality of the group.”
Their ranking on the final day of the competition came with an added bonus: an invitation to compete in a leg of next season’s Women’s World Sevens Series.
“There was a lot to play for on that second day, where they really went through the wringer,” explains Wakley, with Wales losing 21-7 to England in the Cup Quarter-Final. “We had to react positively to losing to a strong England side by targeting our highest ever finish with a win against Belgium.”
Had Wales lost that game, it would have been the Belgians who snuck above them into fifth place. Another permutation could have seen Wales knock on the door of 2018 World Cup qualification in the event of a quarter-final victory against England.
“You do go through a rollercoaster of emotions, but at the same time you can’t get carried away,” cautions the head coach. “We had to then do a professional job on Belgium and Poland, which we did without conceding a single point. The players’ defence and workrate for each other was outstanding.”
Wales have several tournaments across the world already in the pipeline, and with sevens set to be put on the backburner with the World Cup next month, does Wakley believe that can keep the players focused? “One hundred per cent, you’ve got to have that motivation,” he answers. “These girls aren’t professional rugby players: they’re either working or in uni. Some of them are waking up at 4.30am in the morning to get to training for 6am.
“To make those early sessions, you need that drive, and this group has got it in abundance. It’s so important for us to have goals to work towards.”
Also pleasing for Wakley were the lack of injuries to the squad. “We had twelve fit players at the end of the tournament, which goes to show they’re conditioned now to compete at this high level, and I’ve really got to credit [S&C lead] James Nolan on that front.”
He also credits his assistant coach Jonathan Hooper, who will be in charge of Wales Women’s Commonwealth Youth Games sevens team in the Bahamas this month. “Hoops has been fantastic,” says Wakley. “We’ve grown up playing a lot of sevens together, and we both have similar thoughts about how to play the game. It’s good to have a coach I can bounce ideas off, and he can lead things while I step back and observe.”
After spending half an hour with each individual in the programme to set new targets, Wakley will ensure a seamless transition back into rugby union mode for himself and the players. “Our focus now will be purely on preparing for the World Cup in Ireland next month,” he says, with Wales’ first match on 9th August against New Zealand. “But when we do pick the sevens up again we’ll have a couple of early-morning starter sessions just to get our principles back, so come October we’ll be back in full flow.”
