Cardiff Blues centre and Rugby World Cup Sevens winner Tom Isaacs returns to the Wales Sevens squad for the Wellington and Sydney legs of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
Isaacs – joined in the squad by regional team-mates Andy Thomas and Owen Jenkins - helped Paul John’s side lift the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens trophy after beating New Zealand, Samoa and Argentina in the knock-out stages of the Dubai tournament and last represented Wales Sevens in 2010.
The only other change to the squad since the Dubai and Cape Town tournaments in December is uncapped wing Lloyd Lewis who shone for Wales Under 20 last season.
Isaacs said: “Sevens did a lot for me at the start of my career and I’m excited to be involved again. It’s been a long time since I was last involved but and it would be fantastic if we can be as successful now as during that period. There are players with a lot more experience than me in the squad now so I’ve been spending time getting up to speed and learning how sevens has evolved.”
Wales Sevens head coach Gareth Williams added: “We have kept a consistent squad compared to Dubai and South Africa and we are working hard to improve all the time. After Dubai, we made significant progress in Cape Town with an inexperienced squad and felt we should have beaten the USA and Australia so we are not going to change everything, just try to improve everything we do.
“We know it’s going to be a tough challenge against Argentina, Fiji and Japan – Argentina got to the Cup final and Fiji won the Plate in South Africa – but we’re looking forward to that. Tom will bring his significant experience to the squad while it’s clear Lloyd has all the attributes to be an excellent sevens player. Hopefully he will enjoy the experience and have a chance to show his skills in these global competitions.”
Wales Sevens squad: Luke Treharne (capt, Wales 7s), Sam Cross (vice-capt, Wales 7s), Ben Roach (Wales 7s), Luke Morgan (Newport Gwent Dragons), Lloyd Lewis (Newport Gwent Dragons), Jordan Williams (Scarlets), Adam Thomas (Cardiff Blues), Owen Jenkins (Cardiff Blues), Tom Isaacs (Cardiff Blues), Kristian Phillips (Ospreys), Ethan Davies (Cross Keys), Luke Crocker (Ebbw Vale)