Durham University’s Cai Devine, an international in both sevens and touch rugby for Wales, is captain for the first time. Wales were trophy winners in the Moscow leg of the Grand Prix Series a month ago, which has given their coach some optimism heading into Marcoussis.
“We see this as another opportunity to build on our strong finish in Russia,” says Pugh. “We’ve named a young squad once again, giving them a chance to play on a bigger stage. There are some exciting players such as Tony Lamerton and George Thomas coming in for the first time.”
Wales’ first pool match on Saturday is against the hosts, who have named a strong team as they build towards next month’s World Cup. They will then go on to face Italy and Sweden.Â
All the sevens action will be shown live on the Rugby Europe website.Â
Pugh added that he hoped to see some of his more experienced players step up on the Rugby Europe stage. “This is very much a chance for guys like Cai Devine and Joe Jenkins to be challenged on a leadership front on the back of their World Series experience.”
Wales Sevens: Chay Smith, Matthew Powell, Cai Devine (c), Joe Jenkins, Toby Fricker, Jacob Flynn, Ethan Davies, Iwan Evans, Tony Lamerton, Jay Jones, Mike Wilson, George Thomas.
Fixtures: Wales v France (09:50 BST); Wales v Italy (14:12); Wales v Sweden (18:56).Â
