Dragons centre Tal Selley and Newport scrum half Tom Isaacs have joined the Wales Sevens squad in Dubai ahead of the first IRB Sevens World Series tournament which kicks off tomorrow morning (Friday).
Selley, a seasoned Sevens international and newcomer Isaacs have replaced Rob Lewis (Dragons) and Rhys Webb (Ospreys) who were called upon by their respective regions for this weekend's Magners League fixtures.
They join a Wales Sevens side which includes Jimmy Norris and Jason Tovey, both members of last season's Wales Under 20 squad, and fellow Sevens debutants Damien Welch (Cardiff), Chris Davies (Aberavon) and Craig Hill (Newport) who are all hoping to make their mark at the new Dubai Stadium 'The Sevens'.
Neath's James Merriman has been named captain for both Dubai and George (South Africa, December 5,6) and leads a side that also includes James Lewis (Dragons), David Flanagan (Blues), Rhodri McAtee (Cornish Pirates) and Dave Evans (Neath) who all have previous international Sevens experience, while Blues centre Dafydd Hewitt will join the squad for the second of the two tournaments, in George.
Pontypridd head coach Paul John took over the Sevens role earlier this season and is looking forward to experiencing international Sevens competition at first hand:
"Our fundamental aim is to develop regional and international players so this is a great opportunity for some of these young players," he said.
"We have seen the benefit Sevens has given to the likes of James Hook, Jamie Roberts, Chris Czekaj and Aled Brew, if we can produce more regional or international players this year, we'll be doing our job.
"We have had some limited but very productive training sessions and the coaches and players have responded brilliantly to Sevens training. Colin Hillman has been a great help too, passing on some of his expert advice on the shortened game.
"It would be great to put a marker down and improve our ranking at these tournaments as everything we do from now on will count for our Rugby World Cup Sevens seedings, but at the same time, the environment is going be a new experience for a lot of these players, they will be thrown in at the deep end in many ways so whatever happens, this will be a huge learning curve."
Wales kick off the action on Day One (Friday) with a tough tournament opener against world no 1 New Zealand. This is followed later in the day with Pool matches against Australia and Zimbabwe.
Wales Sevens squad for Dubai Sevens (November 28, 29)
James Merriman (capt, Neath), David Flanagan (Blues), James Lewis (Dragons), Tal Selley (Dragons), Jimmy Norris (Dragons), Jason Tovey (Dragons), Rhodri McAtee (Cornish Pirates), Dave Evans (Neath), Tom Isaacs (Newport), Damien Welch (Cardiff), Chris Davies (Aberavon), Craig Hill (Newport)
For match results as they happen, go to www.irbsevens.com
Selley, a seasoned Sevens international and newcomer Isaacs have replaced Rob Lewis (Dragons) and Rhys Webb (Ospreys) who were called upon by their respective regions for this weekend's Magners League fixtures.
They join a Wales Sevens side which includes Jimmy Norris and Jason Tovey, both members of last season's Wales Under 20 squad, and fellow Sevens debutants Damien Welch (Cardiff), Chris Davies (Aberavon) and Craig Hill (Newport) who are all hoping to make their mark at the new Dubai Stadium 'The Sevens'.
Neath's James Merriman has been named captain for both Dubai and George (South Africa, December 5,6) and leads a side that also includes James Lewis (Dragons), David Flanagan (Blues), Rhodri McAtee (Cornish Pirates) and Dave Evans (Neath) who all have previous international Sevens experience, while Blues centre Dafydd Hewitt will join the squad for the second of the two tournaments, in George.
Pontypridd head coach Paul John took over the Sevens role earlier this season and is looking forward to experiencing international Sevens competition at first hand:
"Our fundamental aim is to develop regional and international players so this is a great opportunity for some of these young players," he said.
"We have seen the benefit Sevens has given to the likes of James Hook, Jamie Roberts, Chris Czekaj and Aled Brew, if we can produce more regional or international players this year, we'll be doing our job.
"We have had some limited but very productive training sessions and the coaches and players have responded brilliantly to Sevens training. Colin Hillman has been a great help too, passing on some of his expert advice on the shortened game.
"It would be great to put a marker down and improve our ranking at these tournaments as everything we do from now on will count for our Rugby World Cup Sevens seedings, but at the same time, the environment is going be a new experience for a lot of these players, they will be thrown in at the deep end in many ways so whatever happens, this will be a huge learning curve."
Wales kick off the action on Day One (Friday) with a tough tournament opener against world no 1 New Zealand. This is followed later in the day with Pool matches against Australia and Zimbabwe.
Wales Sevens squad for Dubai Sevens (November 28, 29)
James Merriman (capt, Neath), David Flanagan (Blues), James Lewis (Dragons), Tal Selley (Dragons), Jimmy Norris (Dragons), Jason Tovey (Dragons), Rhodri McAtee (Cornish Pirates), Dave Evans (Neath), Tom Isaacs (Newport), Damien Welch (Cardiff), Chris Davies (Aberavon), Craig Hill (Newport)
For match results as they happen, go to www.irbsevens.com
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