Wales Sevens coach Gareth Baber has named a strong squad for the third and fourth legs of the IRB Sevens World Series, which includes the return of three seasoned Sevens players.
Tal Selley, Dafydd Hewitt and Aled Thomas all helped Wales reach two Cup semi-finals at London and Edinburgh at the end last season, but missed out on the Dubai and George Sevens tournaments last month.
Baber, who is in charge of the squad for the next two IRB Sevens World Series tournaments in New Zealand and the USA said, "Tal, Daf and Aled all played a big part in our squad last season but we have a good balance in this selection between some very experienced Sevens players and some developing players with a lot to offer."
Newcomers include nineteen year old Ebbw Vale scrum half Robert Lewis, who joins his twin brother James in the squad, a player who impressed at the recent Dubai and George Sevens, while Dragons no 8 Lewis Evans is also included for the first time.
Baber, has also included a thirteenth player in the touring party in 19-year old Dunvant wing Dave Evans. Evans was spotted by the Wales Sevens management at the Cwmtawe Sevens last summer and will train and travel with the group - and step into the breach in case of injury.
Baber said, "Dave Evans stood out at the Cwmtawe Sevens and has shown lightning pace for Dunvant and in Sevens training this season. We want to take him away with us in order to expose him to the international Sevens environment.
"Sevens develops skills and techniques that help players develop for the fifteen-a-side game. We constantly see this with the young players we take to tournaments and this is another example of that. While Dave has not previously been involved in elite rugby, we feel developing players as Sevens specialists is certainly a way of capturing new, elite talent for the game in Wales."
Wales Sevens Squad for New Zealand and USA: Jonathan Edwards (Scarlets, captain), Richie Pugh (Cardiff), Dafydd Hewitt (Blues), James Harris (Dragons), Lee Williams (Scarlets), Robert Lewis (Dragons), Aled Thomas (Dragons) Alec Jenkins (Scarlets), Tal Selley (Blues), Nick Wakely (Newport, San Diego only), Lee Beach (Neath, Wellington only), Lewis Evans (Dragons), James Lewis (Dragons)