Wales Sevens not resting on laurels

Posted on Mar 25, 2013

A ‘buoyant’ Wales Sevens side landed in Tokyo this morning braced for a tough draw in round seven of the HSBC Sevens World Series, the Tokyo Sevens at the Prince Chichibu Memorial Ground.

Paul John’s men put up a heroic performance in the prestigious Hong Kong Sevens in the weekend, losing a nail-biting final against defending champions Fiji in front of a packed Hong Kong Stadium.

It was the first time Wales had ever reached a Cup final in the IRB Sevens series. Leading 19-0 at halftime, Wales were just 10 minutes away from glory but super-sub Osea Kolinisau entered the fray and scored a second half hat-trick to deny Wales glory.

“It was an amazing atmosphere as there was a lot of Welsh support there,” said Wales Sevens head coach Paul John. “I’m really proud of the effort the boys put in.

“The boys played some cracking rugby and entered the competition with a great attitude. They really accounted themselves well throughout the tournament. To go 19-0 up against a very good Fiji side in the first half of the final was an exceptional effort. Unfortunately we couldn’t get our hands on the ball in the second half and Fiji came away with the title.

“There is no time rest on our laurels though as we’ve got Kenya, USA and Scotland this week in the Japan Sevens. Some might say it is an easy group but as last weekend proved, there are no longer any easy groups on the circuit.

“We’re carrying a few bumps and bruises but just have to re-charge our batteries and maintain the momentum into this weekend.

“Kenya will be looking for revenge after we beat them in Hong Kong in the semi-finals and are looking for a top three finish while USA and Scotland will be desperate to get away from the bottom of the series standings as they won’t want to be relegated.”

Wales’ haul of 19 points for reaching the final has seen them jump to sixth place in the overall standings with 63 points with New Zealand leading the way with 113 with three rounds to play.

Blues signings

Posted on Apr 16, 2012

Cardiff Blues have confirmed they have signed Fijian international loosehead prop forward Campese Ma’afu and 24-year-old blindside flanker Robin Copeland from Rotherham, ahead of the new season

Born and raised in Australia to a Tongan father and a Fijian mother, prop Campese Ma’afu has joined the Cardiff Blues from West Harbour Pirates in Sydney, Australia.

The middle of three talented rugby brothers – older brother Salesi has represented Australia while younger brother Kuki has featured for Tonga at Sevens.

In 2010 the two brothers Salesi and Campese, squared off against each other in a test match between Australia and Fiji. Salesi played for the Wallabies at tight-head Prop while his brother Campese played for Fiji at loose-head prop.

Campese has gone on to win six caps for Fiji and featured against Wales in November 2010 when the match finished in a 16-16 draw.

Standing at 6′ 5″ tall and weighing 16 ½ stone, Robin Copeland possesses superb pace and has impressed many, scoring 11 tries in 20 games for the Rotherham Titans since joining from Plymouth last season.

The highly rated former Leinster Academy and St Mary’s College player will add presence to the Blues backrow next season.

Copeland – a marketing and event management graduate – is athletic and quick on his feet and has the potential to go a long way in the game.

Speaking of the signing, Cardiff Blues Forwards Coach Justin Burnell said:

“A big thing for us as a region and a team is that we should be looking at a three year cycle of establishing a group of players that will be here to build for the future.”

“Robin is a big physical boy with the ability to cross the gain-line but has the skills and finesse to put people in to finish via his decision making.”

“He is twenty four years old and has been the outstanding player in the Championship this year.”

“We watched his games a few times, assessed his performances and then viewed him and met him.”

“It’s important that the player has the right attitude and mind set to fit into the environment. We went through that process and he ticked all the boxes.”

“He might be and unknown quantity with the PRO12 but he will be a surprise package as well.”

“He’s a blindside flanker and also covers second row, in a similar bill to Andries Pretorius, who also came in as an unknown quantity.”

“We will be looking for him to play alongside Andries and Michael Paterson and the battle hardened, experienced Xavier Rush.”

Speaking of the signing Ma’afu, Burnell added.

“Campese Ma’afu came to my attention in the 16-all-draw against Wales.”

“I thought he did well in the scrum in certain aspects against Adam Jones, who as we know, is one of the best tight-heads in the world.”

“To see him scrum in the World Cup and against New Zealand in the warm up games showed he’s an exciting prospect.”

“I’m pleased with the two signings who are on two year contracts with Campese working alongside Scott Andrews, Sam Hobbs and Marc Breeze.”

“I think they are more than capable of accounting well for themselves.”

“These players are obviously also within our price bracket. For example Gethin Jenkins, who has been a fantastic servant for the Blues, is going to Toulon and we can’t compete with the budgets that some of these big French clubs have.”

Pugh: Wales now show no fear

Posted on Dec 12, 2011

Wales will go into the fourth round of the HSBC Sevens World Series, the NZ International Sevens in Wellington on 3-4 February 2012, knowing big hitting Fiji will be aiming for revenge.

Last weekend Richie Pugh led Wales to a momentous Plate final victory over the joint series leaders at the Nelson Mandela Bay South Africa Sevens, to send Fiji packing with their second heaviest defeat in the series’ history.

Wales overturned a Pool defeat on its head when the two sides met up again in the Plate final – there was only one team in it as Pugh led the current World Champions to a stunning 48-0 victory.

“We knew we could beat them,” admitted Pugh just after touching down in Heathrow. “We lost to them in Dubai in the second leg and lost to them in the Pool game in Port Elizabeth, but on both occasions we were leading at half-time.

“This time, we gave them absolutely no chance to show their flair. Owen Williams and Will Price dominated the kick offs and we took every chance that came our way. The victory was brilliant for the boys, particularly as we came through a couple of dark days along the way.

“But we now know Fiji will be gunning for us in Wellington where we have them in the same pool as Argentina and Tonga. But Saturday’s win has given the squad a lot of self belief and we will go into the tournament with no fear.

“To beat the side who were ranked number one in the series when we played them, has given us a lot of confidence. I definitely think there are some exciting times ahead for this team,” he added.

Following their first Cup win of the season in South Africa, the reigning series champions New Zealand lie joint-top in the standings with Gold Coast winners Fiji with 51 points. South Africa (48) and England (47) are closely behind while Wales are in seventh position on 36 points.

“There is a lot of congestion on the points table,” said Pugh. “England, France and Australia have all picked up points off the big boys so that has made things extremely tight. If you had said to us before the series had kicked off that after three rounds we would have won two Plates and made three quarter finals to pick up 36 points, we would have taken that,” he said.

Wales head coach Paul John, concluded: “We are really pleased the squad were able to finish the three weeks off in style by beating Fiji 48-0 in the Plate final which was an excellent win. It was a massive statement and fair play to the squad.

“They have been excellent during the time away and all the hard work that has been done over the preparation period with Proc [Wayne Proctor] had definitely paid dividends.”

Gethin Jenkins and Stephen Jones resume training

Posted on Sep 12, 2011

Stephen Jones and Gethin Jenkins are expected to return to full training this week making them both available for selection for Wales’ Rugby World Cup 2011 second round meeting with Samoa at the Waikato Stadium in Hamilton on Sunday (3.30pm).

Centurion Jones and the 76-times capped Jenkins arrived with the rest of the squad at team headquarters in Lake Taupo this afternoon (Monday), from Wellington where they went down to world champions South Africa by 17-16 yesterday.

The news that the Scarlets fly-half and Blues prop should both sufficiently recovered from calf problems to put themselves in contention for selection this weekend is particularly welcome – but the Wales selectors will also be buoyed by the knowledge that they have no new significant injuries to contend with as a result of the clash with the Springboks.

The British and Irish Lions pair will be fully integrated into squad training from tomorrow (Tuesday 13th September), when Wales will stage an ‘open to the public session’ at Owen Delany Park, Taupo, from 2.30pm.

That means Wales should be just one player away from a full compliment when head coach Warren Gatland and his coaches come to select the side for the now must win clash with Samoa.

Only Ospreys back row Ryan Jones remains on the injury list, after aggravating a calf problem in training last week, but he will now be able to continue his stay with the squad as he bids to return to fitness in time for the final game of the Pool D against Fiji in three week’s time.

“Ryan will continue his rehabilitation with us and is still looking at a return to play time of around two to three weeks,” said WRU national medical performance manager Prav Mathema.

“The fact that we have been able to report no new significant injury concerns to the coaches from the weekend’s game means that the decision to allow him to stay and work at getting back to fitness in time for that Fiji match can still stand.

“We have been fortunate on the injury front and come through the South Africa game relatively unscathed with just a few minor bumps and bruises to contend with.

“Both Stephen and Gethin will be fully integrated into the training programme this week and, if they come through the periods of high intensity training, we would expect to make them both available to the selectors ahead of this weekend’s game.”

Wales lose out to Fiji at JWC

Posted on Jun 23, 2011

Wales Under 20 suffered at the hands of Fiji with a 34-20 loss in the fifth place semi-final of the Junior World Championship in Italy.

Wales are now set to play Ireland in the seventh place play-off at Treviso on Sunday (12.00 noon).          

There were three tries apiece, but Fiji were more disciplined on the night, with Wales giving away possession and crucial penalties.

Fiji were first on the scoreboard, with a penalty in the twelfth minute for wing Josateki Lalagavesi between two missed kicks for Matthew Morgan. Lalagavesi missed a second attempt before outside half Metuisela Talebula touched down for the first try, converted by Lalagavesi, taking the score to 10-0. Scarlets centre Dale Ford reduced the deficit with a try after 34 minutes, converted by Morgan, but Lalagavesi’s second penalty of the half took the half-time score to 13-7.

Both teams went down to 14 men for a period, first Fijian centre Solomoni Rasolea was yellow carded at the end of the first half, before Wales wing Liam Williams was sent to the sin bin six minutes into the second half.

Fiji extended their lead after the break with three more Lalagavesi penalties to one for Matthew Morgan early in the second half.

Wales mounted a mini comeback with tries for Scarlets prop Rhodri Jones and London Irish-bound Steve Shingler, but Matthew Morgan was unable to add the extras on this occasion.

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