Why don't Wales take 7s seriously

Having seen Wales do remarkably well at Twickenham and Murrayfield with what was, essentially, a semi-pro team, why don't they play the whole circuit? Surely it can't be down to costs becausewith the relative success that they have had, surely that success would generate more exposure, sponsorship, cash etc?
It seems a shame that one of the top nations (please, not smart guy comments - let's keep them for anothe thread ) doesn't seem to take 7s as seriosly as they should

I would think it's got a lot to do with money. Not wanting to invest in something that they appear to see as development tool. was good to see them take on the big boys though and with the way wales rugby works it would probably mean they would play worse with the full weight of the WRU behind them.

I think being the current world champions would suggest that they take it as seriously as the WRU requires. It's a side show and useful for devloping young players to some extent, nothing more than that. I would not want to see Wales plough any more resources into what IMO is Circus rugby, which whilst entertaining for some bores the pants off me.

They do play the whole circuit. They play all 8 tournaments per year plus the world cup every few years (which they won last time round).

The traditionally do well at Twickers and Murrayfield reaching a few semis over the years. They tend to have a slightly stronger squad as the main season has usually ended by then, and they are the closest to home tournaments of course. They don't always do so well further afield. They did do well in Australia this year however, Beating Fiji en route to winning the plate competion (the one you go into after losing in a Quarterfinal).

The last world cup in Dubai was their best tournament (the only one they have won, beating New Zealand and Samoa on the way). Obviously it would be great to see the likes of Shane Williams and George North playing sevens for Wales, but all the other major nations could also bring in their own top stars. Sevens these days is almost a seperate entity with each country using mostly specialist players.

As for whether sevens is fantastic/boring - let's not get into that as we will never agree. You either love it or hate it (I love it and used to love playing it).

It's all about money. Rumours are that Scotland are about to abandon the circuit for the same reason.

Sevens and full rugby union are different sports to a point, and some players who make it big in sevens never adapt to the full game and ivce versa (Gollings 7s legend, not a XV player of any standard).

Scarletspiderman

totally agree, although I think Foden began his career on the 7's circuit but the players who make the transition are few and far between. Can't think of any welsh or scottish players who have come from 7's to become fully established in the xv set up

There are a few welsh players who have played on the 7's and then done well at 15's. James Hook being the obvious one. However at the time I believe he was playing for Neath and not Ospreys.

The welsh team is made up of 2 players from each region (fringe/ academy guys usually) and then supplemented by Premiership players.

I don't think we will see too many players coming out of this to be world beaters in 15's and I would therefore much rather us spend the money that this jolly costs on an A team.

There are loads of youngsters that would benefit from a first step in to international rugby via the 'A' 6 nations and Churchill cup. Guys like Tovey, Lloyd Williams, Scott Williams etc

Didn't they win the 7s outright a year or two ago. Small country, few resources mean that it can only get so much contribution.

They take it as seriously as the finances allow

http://images.teamtalk.com/09/03/800x600/Wales-World-Cup-Sevens-winners-2009_1969338.jpg
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Well when you look at the success of their union nationa..., well when you look at the domination of their regio...

Yeah why don't they concentrate on 7's?

Stag - we won the 7s world cup a few years ago. I believe the team at the time had the likes of Tal Selley, Lee Williams, Richie Pugh, Rhys Webb etc. So again not big star international (XV) names, but some real 7s specialists (Selley was man of the tournamnet i believe)

Tal Selley was a funny sort of player. Showed so much promise to make it at full XV level but just never delivered, he really did excell at 7's though, a great player to watch. Lee Williams was very much suited to 7's rugby as well, he's got such a good rugby brain and it just gave him more room to work with. He's still a decent XV player though.

I think Wales takes 7's rugby as seriously as they can, and it is a stepping block for players like Kirstian Phillips to get before they move up to full regional rugby. I'm pretty happy with the situation as it stands.

"Can't think of any welsh or scottish players who have come from 7's to become fully established in the xv set up"

Quite a few from Scotland actually. The most recent graduate from the 7s set-up is probably Richie Vernon, but Sean Lamont also came from a 7s background. Ali Hogg has recently played for the 7s side as well.

For Wales I beleve Chris Wyatt and Colin Charvis both came through the 7s circuit

Aled Brew who is playing for Wales 15's on Sat also did very well with the 7's (in my opinion he's a much better 7's player). Also ex-cardiff wing Rhys Williams once played for the 7's team.

Back in the late 90s Wales did field a team in the Dubai 7's packed with stars - including Gareth Thomas, Rob Howley, Scott Gibbs, Dafydd James, Colin Charvis and Jiffy. I think Arwel Thomas was there as well. The side played well but still went out in the semis to South Africa as they did last weekend and the weekend before!