In Pool D, Wales bookended victory against Samoa with losses to Fiji and Canada, and Williams emphasised his concern at seeing several try-scoring opportunities slip through the team’s grasp.
Williams said: “Our inability to convert good tournament situations is a worry for us. We have to ask a question of some boys about their mental toughness, especially with selection getting closer to the Commonwealth Games [in April 2018].”
“Those questions are definitely being asked. We are also asking questions of ourselves as management, since we have to find the answer.”
Against Fiji, semi-finalists in Dubai last weekend, Wales scored two tries late in the game through captain Luke Treharne and the returning Morgan Williams to end the match 28-14.
A hat-trick from Luke Morgan – who showed just why he is Wales’ all-time top try-scorer – saw them edge the sixth-ranked Samoans 17-12.
With the pool wide open heading into the final game of day one, it was against Canada (a team boasting over 300 caps) that Williams was most disappointed.
Profligate in possession, they found themselves 17-0 down against the Canadians heading towards half-time, before brute strength and a perfectly-timed offload from Adam Thomas put Davies in for a try. After the break, it was the North Americans who were in the ascendant, though, scoring two tries to Wales’ one (by Phil Jones, after a good Tomi Lewis break).
The final score read Canada 31, Wales 14. “Canada are a very good, experienced side,” said Williams. “But to let them go up by so many points, so easily, is unacceptable. This has happened too often now in the past year, and the senior players need to show we are moving forward.”
Williams’s senior charges will have the chance to do just that tomorrow, aided by six players competing in only their second World Rugby Sevens Series competition.
Wales will compete in the Challenge Trophy quarter-final tomorrow at 09:20 GMT (live on Sky Sports).
