Welsh Sevens coach Paul John is hoping to finish the IRB Series in Edinburgh on a high note this weekend.
Wales reached the quarter-finals of the London leg last weekend before bowing out to Argentina who raced to a convincing 27-14 victory. But John is confident his side can escape from Pool D in Edinburgh where they will come across USA, Fiji and Scotland.
“We’ve got a chance to make the quarter finals in this group. We’ve got to be on top our our game in every game,” explained John.
“In previous tournaments this year we’ve put one or two games together in the group but this time we have got to put three games together in order to get out of the group.
“In many ways it is a dangerous group. Our first game is against America and we’ve some tough games against them, just look back to Adelaide where we lost in the last seconds of the match. Then there is Fiji who on their day can obviously beat anybody then we’ve got Scotland who will have the home crowd on their side.”
Wales have flattered to deceive this season, showing glimpses of what they are capable of. On occasion they have qualified for the knockout stages, they have been unable to kick on, a fact which rankles with John.
“That is the frustrating part,” he admits. “We are getting to the quarter finals at the moment but can’t capitalise on that. We can’t be content with just getting through to the quarter final. We have to get out of our group and kick on. Unfortunately from the chances we have had this year we haven’t taken advantage of some great opportunites.”
