Losses to world and Commonwealth champions New Zealand (28-7), USA (33-12) and Spain (33-7) didn’t tell the full story of a Wales team made up of six new caps – all of whom were playing top-flight sevens for the first time.Â
Wales were also made to do without one of their main strike runners, Ryan Conbeer, who was injured in a typically ferocious collision in the opening minutes of the match against New Zealand.Â
“This is the first time some of these boys have experienced such an atmosphere,” said Pugh, referring to the raucous atmosphere played out under the lights of the famous Sevens Stadium. “It’s been a tough day. We really pushed on from games one and two, where we went up against some of the best in the world and came out with some positives. They’ll certainly be better for it.”Â
Pugh, explaining that the World Series helps players’ development by allowing them to make errors at a top-class level, added: “We learnt some strong lessons, such as how hard it is to defend for long periods of time when you’re without the ball, and not to give the ball away cheaply, which we did against Spain.”
“Our job as coaches is to make sure the players come right on day two, and I know we’ve got the character and the spirit to do that.”Â
Wales will be back in World Rugby Sevens Series action at 06:36 GMT tomorrow, live on Sky Sports.
