The Welsh Rugby Union has made Urdd Gobaith Cymru its National Schools Sevens arm in order to further enhance the profile and delivery of Sevens rugby in Wales.
The WRU will provide support for the Urdd’s Regional and National tournaments via its participation officers. The Union will also provide extra training for school teachers in the delivery of Sevens rugby.
It’s a demonstration of the value the Union places on the shortened game, with clear benefits evident not only in improved skill levels in both attack and defence, but also in the confidence gained through competing in packed stadia around the world and playing against the best rugby playing nations.
The whole experience has helped propel many Wales Sevens players into the Regional and Wales Test arenas. Wales are the reigning IRB World Sevens Champions and, since the return to the IRB Sevens circuit in 2005, 24 Wales Sevens players have gone on to play for their country in the 15-a-side game. James Hook was the first convert and 2012 Grand Slam star Alex Cuthbert is the latest graduate of the Wales Sevens academy.
As the Wales Sevens team prepares to compete at the Hong Kong Sevens this weekend, Urdd Gobaith Cymru will hold its biggest ever Urdd National Sevens tournament at Llanelli this week (Wednesday and Thursday) with more than 1500 players from 130 teams competing at venues around the town.
The event is a key selection tool for the URDD National squad which regularly competes at the Dubai Sevens. The tournaments have been the launch-pad of many rugby careers, including three of Wales’ Rugby World Cup Sevens winning team who came through the Urdd system – Lee Williams, Jevon Groves and Tom Isaac, all of whom have gone on to become professional players.
Wales centre Scott Williams also progressed to senior rugby having competed at Llanelli for Coleg Sir Gar, and Dubai for the Urdd Sevens. He joined the Coleg Sir Gar Sevens team at the announcement of the partnership.
“I thoroughly enjoyed playing Sevens rugby. It improved my game massively, in both attack and defence, and being selected by the National Urdd team to play in Dubai alongside Wales and the other national Sevens sides was amazing,” said Scott.
Urdd Sports Director Gary Lewis said: “It’s fantastic to have the Welsh Rugby Union as a key partner in this way because we have been able to create a clear pathway for Sevens from Under 11 through to Wales Sevens. There is a huge enthusiasm for Sevens rugby amongst school children and teachers in Wales because it provides an opportunity for everyone to play rugby, even those children who may not go on to play the fifteen a side game, and also smaller schools who may not be able to raise a full XV.”
WRU Partnership manager Adrian Evans added: “With our national Sevens side competing hard on the IRB Sevens circuit, Sevens is certainly becoming more of a focus for us and this announcement sees the Urdd become our national delivery partner for Sevens in schools which goes hand in hand with our other development work. Sevens certainly helps skills, you only have to look at the likes of Alex Cuthbert who has only come into rugby through sevens.”
For more information, contact WRU communications manager Liz Jones tel 07736 056669 / lizjones@wru.co.uk
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