Coach Jonathan Hooper has named Hannah Jones and Jaz Joyce as co-captains, while dynamic forward Mel Clay makes a long-awaited return to the sevens set-up.
Clay is one of three additions to the squad after their previous outing in Paris on the World Rugby Sevens Series at the start of the month, along with Dyddgu Hywel and Kelsey Jones.Â
“We’ve got a strong team with a couple of fresh faces, and we’re hungry to do well,” said Hooper. “We’ve had a busy two months since the Commonwealth Games so we’re now looking forward to this new challenge.”
There is a distinctly Celtic feel to Pool B in Marcoussis tomorrow, with Wales, Ireland Scotland joining Poland. All the sevens action will be shown live on the Rugby Europe website.
“We played Poland in Hong Kong and Brisbane this year, and last year in Rugby Europe as well,” Hooper said. “They’re a dogged team, but we’ll be looking to play to our strengths. Ireland will pose a tough challenge, which we know after facing them twice in Paris this month, and we’ll take confidence from those performances.
“Scotland are a bit of an unknown quantity for us, but we expect a stern encounter. It’s a challenging day one, but we’ll take it one game at a time. We’ve got to play well tomorrow, but we know day two is the business end, so it will be a real squad effort.”Â
Wales Women Sevens: Alisha Butchers, Bethan Lewis, Dyddgu Hywel, Gemma Rowland, Hannah Jones (co-captain), Jaz Joyce (co-captain), Jess Kavanagh-Williams, Kayleigh Powell, Kelsey Jones, Lucy Packer, Mel Clay, Niamh Terry. Travelling Reserve: Ellie Morgan.
Fixtures: Wales v Poland (12:06 BST); Wales v Scotland (14:51); Wales v Ireland (17:14).
