As everyone likes to point out, Wales are the Rugby Sevens World Champions having won the World Cup in Dubai in 2008 but their fortunes haven’t been good since then.
Wales are on their way back
I thought they played well against Fiji in Las Vegas. But it was difficult to tell whether the narrow playing field had anything to do with it because Fiji really struggled at Sam Boyd Stadium, losing to Australia and South Africa after winning the tournament in Wellington the week before.
On that occasion the Welsh defense was well organised and the team played with real commitment.
That said, Wales lost the match and I assumed Fiji would re-group for Adelaide. There has been 2 big Sevens tournaments in Fiji since the USA Sevens and they have had time to exorcise the demons of Sam Boyd Stadium.
But Wales were able to build from their performance in Las Vegas and go one better in Adelaide.
This was no fluke
Fiji were awarded a try early in the game that should never have been given. Replays clearly showed that the ball was never grounded.
The way the game was panning out, it was one of those times when you worried that a bad call was going to determine the outcome rather than the athletes on the field.
To their credit, Wales played on but went 2 tries down shortly after when Roko split the defense on the cut-back to make it 12-0 to Fiji.
Then Wales came back with a well-worked try to Justin Tipuric and almost scored another on the half-time whistle but went into touch before getting over the line.
Momentum remained with the Welsh after the break. Chris Morgan scored from a series of plays that were built on the second half re-start. The scores were level at 12-12.
Fijian star Osea Kolinisau was sin-binned for a professional foul and Wales were able to score from the overlap to lead 17-12 and that’s how it finished.
There will be celebrations among the Welsh fans and over night soul searching for the Fijians.
Justin Tipuric is one to watch for Wales. He featured in each of the 3 tries and looked elusive all game.
