Moving on from the success achieved in the previous year, Wales Sevens enjoyed a prolific 2006–2007 season on the IRB Sevens World Series circuit, adding numerous trophies to the already crowded silverware cabinet. Wales participated in 6 rounds out of the 8 available in the series, in Dubai and George, South Africa during 2006 and Adelaide, Hong Kong, England and Scotland in 2007. Wales had applied to be a core member of the IRB Sevens World Series for the 2007–2008 season in which they would participate in a complete round of competition; they gradually re-entered the global Sevens circuit by playing in half of the rounds in 2005–2006 and added two further stages for the 2006–2007 season.

Wales Sevens Coach Dai Rees announced his squad ahead of the first leg of the Series, Dubai, in November 2006. The squad contained four members of the newly created U20 national team, James Harris, Alec Jenkins, Thomas James and Martyn Thomas, together with more seasoned Sevens players such as Richie Pugh, Jonathan Edwards, Rhodri McAtee and Tal Selley.

Wales Sevens were set to meet New Zealand Sevens in the first Pool game of Wales’s campaign, just six days after the national XV sides had met each other in the Invesco Perpetual Series at the Millennium Stadium. Led by captain Richie Pugh Wales were defeated 31-12 by the All Blacks but faired better in the second game of Day 1 of the competition.

Game two saw Wales face Samoa, who had been described pre-tournament as the most improved side on the circuit and had in fullback Timoteo Iosua the top try scorer, with forty touchdowns, of the previous World Series. Wales secured the narrow 17-14 victory over the Pacific Islanders and demolished the Arabian Gulf in their third and final match on the first day of the competition by 47 unanswered points. Though Wales had won two of three games, a greater points difference in favour of New Zealand and Samoa meant that Wales would enter the Bowl competition in the second day of play.

Wales contesting the Dubai Bowl quarter-final against Argentina. They trailed by a mere two points, 12-10, at the interval after scores courtesy of Jonathan Edwards and Rhodri McAtee had drawn out a 10-0 Welsh lead. Yet due to the harsh yellow carding of Sevens stalwart Edwards the Pumas notched two quick in succession tries to gain a 24-10 win and in doing so demoted Wales into the Shield semi-final with rival British nation Scotland.

Just two and a half hours later Wales took on their Celtic cousins but left it almost perilously late to secure a positive result. Edwards, in the last play of the tie, drew the sides level at 12-12 and Tom James, who would later in the season receive a national squad call-up to the tour of Australia, sealed the semi for Wales with an extra time try.

The final of the Shield pitted Pool opponents Wales and host nation the Arabian Gulf together for the second time in as many days. In another one sided affair Wales powered to a 33-0 victory that was played in freak conditions of torrential rain that had all but devastated the opening tournament of the IRB World Sevens Series.

Wales Sevens moved on with confidence, buoyed by the gaining of silverware in the first leg of the Series, to the second tournament in George just a week later. Drawn against England, Argentina and Portugal in Pool B, Wales faced their longest-standing rivals and top seed in the pool in the initial match of the South African tournament.

After trailing by fourteen points to England the Welsh sevens launched a second half fightback. With just three minutes of play remaining a 50 metre break from James Harris resulted in a try score underneath the uprights. Aled Thomas narrowed the deficit with his conversion and converted the second score soon after, following a forty metre run from Tal Selley from a line-out. With the scores drawn at fourteen points all a great covering tackle from Martyn Thomas prevented another English score and salvaged the draw for Wales.

The second pool match saw Wales take on Argentina. Looking to avenge their defeat by the Pumas in the Bowl quarter-final in Dubai, Wales again left it late to secure success. Benefiting from the early yellow carding of Santiago Gomez Cora, Wales made full use of their extra number as Jonathan Edwards notched a try. Although Wales controlled much of the first half a lapse in concentration allowed the Argentines to score a converted try, which took them into the lead at half-time. However, Wales picked up the pace once more in the second half and after some superb play from Richie Pugh and Lee Beach, Lee Williams scored a try to seal the 10-7 win.

Wales performed strongly from the outset in the last Pool game against Portugal. An early try from U20 star Martyn Thomas put Wales into the lead, and although Portugal soon equalised Wales responded immediately with a try from Aled Thomas to regain the advantage. Rhodri McAtee gave a stoic performance in defence, preventing a couple of Portuguese attacks and a late try from Jonathan Edwards, after a superb pass from Tal Selley, concluded the Welsh victory 17-5.

After an unbeaten first day of competition, Wales had ensured a top eight finish for the first time in the 2006–2007 IRB event. Day Two provided a Cup quarter-final with one of the World Series favourites, Fiji. Brilliant play from Sireli Naqelevuki and William Ryder gave the Fijians victory, with Wales only scoring one try from Aled Thomas in the 33-7 defeat. Subsequently, Wales moved into the Plate semi-final against opponents France. In an exciting encounter the scores were tied at 24-all at the end of normal play. A try four minutes into extra time from soon-to-be Dragons recruit Martyn Thomas gifted Wales the win and a place in the Plate final.

Looking to add their second successive trophy to the cabinet, Wales met Tunisia in the final. Making their intentions clear from the kick-off, Wales were soon on the scoreboard after Martyn Thomas scored his side’s first try; Aled Thomas converted to put Wales 7-0 up after two minutes. A great run by Tal Selley turned the tide even further in Wales’s favour. Thomas converted Selley’s try from a tight angle to put Wales 14-0 up against their African opponents at half-time. On the resumption of the game Rhodri McAtee, who had been outstanding in defence throughout the tournament in South Africa, gained a well-deserved try to further the gap between the sides. Alec Jenkins scored his side’s fourth try and as Tunisia were only able to achieve one try in response, Wales gained their second trophy of the IRB Sevens World Series courtesy of the 26-5 victory.

Wales, still developing as a Sevens playing nation, sat out the next two rounds of the Series in New Zealand and the USA. They rejoined the circuit for the Hong Kong leg of competition at the end of March and were led by a new Captain, Jonathan Roberts. The squad also received some changes from Head Coach Dai Rees, who would be absent from the trip to Hong Kong as he stayed in Wales for his Dragons’ Assistant Coaching duties (for the European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Brive) and would be covered by Assistant Sevens Coach Gareth Baber.

Three debutant players were named in the squad for the Hong Kong leg: outside half Dai Flanagan, centre James Lewis and flanker Rob McCusker. Fullback Jamie Roberts was also set to take part, having missed earlier involvement due to injury, while regular Sevens members Wayne Evans and James Merriman also joined the squad for their first involvement of the season.

Wales were pooled with Tonga, Chinese Taipei and South Africa and faced the Pacific Islanders on the first day of the tournament. In an opening match defeat, Wales were unable to attain fluency against the tough tackling Tongans. 

Despite being only two converted scores adrift at half-time could not draw themselves back into the game. Teuimuli Kaufusi, who had gained the brace in the first half, added a third after the restart to put Wales nineteen points behind. Tonga gained a fourth try, the conversion making it 26-0, but Wales did then reply with a score. Substitute Jamie Roberts made a great run downfield to supply Wayne Evans, who converted his own try. However, Tonga had the last word as they ran in another converted try to round off their impressive performance 33-7.

In a game of vast contrast, Wales took on Chinese Taipei and hammered home a 61-0 victory, racking up a larger points total over Taipei than fellow pool members South Africa had achieved (59). A brace of tries from Alec Jenkins, and single efforts from Richard Mustoe and Lee Beach, gave Wales a 26-0 half-time lead. In a second half points scoring rout, Tal Selley, Jonathan Edwards (with two) Dai Flanagan and Rhodri McAtee all gained tries to compound Taipei’s misery. After demolishing their previous opponents Wales faced a harder battle in the last Pool match against South Africa. The more experienced side proved too strong for the young Welsh Sevens and powered to a 31-0 win, which left Wales third in the Pool, and so placed in the Plate competition for the final day of tournament action.

Wales faced Italy in the Plate quarter-final in Hong Kong. In the scrappy affair Wales took an early 10-0 lead at the break thanks to two tries from Wayne Evans and Rhodri McAtee. Evans completed his brace to stretch the Welsh lead before Italy, from their sole attacking move of the match, gained a converted try. Replacement James Lewis guaranteed Wales a place in the semi-final with a late try to complete the scoring and the 20-7 victory. Progression to the semi saw a clash with the USA. Wales did the damage in the first half with tries by Richard Mustoe, Rhodri McAtee and Jonathan Edwards to take a 15-0 lead. Tal Selley rounded off the Welsh try scoring and although the USA were able to notch three tries after Welsh indiscipline led to two yellow cards, Wales booked a place in the final with the 22-19 win.

Gunning for a third trophy in the Series, Wales met Argentina in the Plate final. Trailing 19-5 at the break, Wales had all the work to do in the second half. Three converted tries from Alec Jenkins, replacement Lee Beach and Tal Selley gave Wales 21 unanswered points in the second half, the fantastic fightback securing the 26-19 victory over the Pumas. Baber, who had led the team in Dai Rees’s absence, commented, "It was particularly satisfying given the short time we've had to mould a team."

The winning of the Plate trophy boosted Welsh confidence ahead of the Adelaide round of the Series a week later. Wales entered the Pool stages of the Australian round with New Zealand, hosts the Wallabies and Hong Kong. In the opening fixture against the All Blacks Wales suffered a heavy 42-10 defeat and were just overpowered 24-15 by Australia. Despite the fact that Wales secured a 24-15 victory over Hong Kong in the final Pool match the two earlier defeats consigned Wales to the Bowl tournament.

Day Two of the Adelaide Sevens pitted Wales against Portugal in the Bowl quarter-final. Pool opponents in South Africa, Wales again put a victory over the Portuguese, this time by a larger margin. The 24-7 victory promoted Wales into the Bowl semi-final against France, and similar to the last encounter between the two, Wales just edged the close affair 19-14 to make the fourth competition final in four legs of the World Series.

Wales’s final opposition Tonga had advanced to the latter stages of the Bowl competition after defeats of Japan and Argentina, the team Wales had beaten in the Plate final in Hong Kong. The last meeting of the Welsh and Pacific Islanders, a week earlier in the Hong Kong Pool stages, had resulted in the Tongans comprehensively beating Wales.
 
Tonga entered the match as favourites having lost by a single point to eventual Cup winners Fiji in the Adelaide Pool stages. However, they struggled to overcome the flair and resilience of the young Welsh team. A brace from fullback Jamie Roberts and efforts from captain Jon Edwards and Lee Williams were enough to hand Wales the victory; a try double from Tongan Vungakoto Lilo was not enough to secure the trophy for the South Sea Islanders.

Head Coach Dai Rees commented on the victory, “We were disappointed not to qualify for the Cup competition, but to turn things around on Day 2 again and come up with another trophy is fantastic. The boys were out on their feet at the end, but they deserved their success.” He added, “It was an eighth final for us in as many tournaments since Wales returned to the Series, but we have ambitions beyond the Plate and Bowl. If we could keep a core squad of players  together for more than one or two tournaments then I think we could break into the top eight – if not this season then certainly next year.”

The closing tournaments of the World Series brought the greatest achievements for the Wales Sevens squad, as Rees had predicted. The last two rounds of competition would be hosted by northern hemisphere nations decidedly closer to home, in England and finally Scotland.
 
Wales entered the penultimate round of the IRB World Sevens Series at English Rugby HQ, Twickenham. Drawn in a Pool consisting of the home nation England, Portugal and South Africa, Wales took on the Springboks in the first match of Day One competition. Having encountered a heavy loss in Hong Kong, in which they were unable to reply to the thirty-one points scored by the opposition in the Pool match, Wales improved significantly in the second meeting of the nations during the Series. South Africa ultimately came away with the victory but the 24-14 scoreline highlighted the effort and determination shown by the young Welsh team.

Wales’s second pool match pitted them against home nation rival England. The home side started strongly with a series of attacks and should have scored an early try, yet delay in grounding the ball enabled Wales to clear the danger. After this early phase of play the tone of the game was set very much in Wales’s favour. Captain Jon Edwards led by example by gaining a quick-fire brace of tries in the first half to thrust Wales into a 10-0 lead at the interval. On the resumption the home nation fared no better and after a moment of madness from English captain Simon Amor, in which he introduced his fist to Aled Thomas’s head, England were reduced to six men. Wales punished their now leaderless and depleted number with a try from new Sevens member Dafydd Hewitt, with Tal Selley rounding off the rout at 22-0 with a late effort.

After this superb showing Dai Rees’s side became the first Welsh side to win at Twickenham since 1988. They retained this form as they entered the final Pool game with Portugal, making it three wins from three over the nation after defeating them in South Africa and Adelaide. The margin of victory was somewhat reduced in this tie but a double from Martyn Thomas and a late effort from James Merriman secured the 15-14 win, and in doing so promoted Wales the top of the Pool table and a subsequent quarter-final berth in the Cup competition.

Celtic nation Scotland was drawn as Wales’s opponents in the Cup quarter-final. Wales prevented an early Scottish attack, holding up Colin Shaw’s effort from the line and following spilled ball from a Scottish line-out shortly afterwards Wales were able to launch an attacking move of their own. Dafydd Hewitt recovered the ball and sent it to Jonny Vaughton who was able to outpace Colin Gregor to cross the Scottish line and get Wales's first points on the board.

A second Welsh score soon followed, largely due to the impressive effort of Tal Selley in keeping the Scots at bay, enabling Rhodri McAtee to put his name on the scoreboard. Scotland sought to reduce the 10-0 interval deficit and just a minute into the second half came the only Scottish try of the game; Scott Forrest occupied himself with the Welsh defence in order to provide Shaw with the ball, who duly crossed the Welsh line.

Scotland were not to make it to their first Cup semi-final though as a missed pass found its way into Welsh hands in the last minute of play; Vaughton gained his brace to complete the 15-5 scoreline and send Wales into their first ever Cup semi-final of an IRB Sevens tournament.

Fiji, after faltering on the first day of action, only just scraped into the Cup quarter-finals with a last-gasp defeat of France and having disposed of Australia in the quarter they were to encounter Wales in the semi. Unfortunately for Wales, the Fijians had regained their title-winning form and they powered to the Cup final with a 24-7 victory. A double from star player William Ryder guided the Pacific Islanders to the victory, the sole Welsh try courtesy of Scarlets flanker Rob McCusker. Wales Head Coach Dai Rees commented on his side’s brave performance, "Our boys have produced some outstanding Sevens rugby this weekend. Each and every player was totally committed throughout which got them the top four finish they deserved. We will take that confidence away with us and work hard this week to ensure we build on this performance at Murrayfield next weekend."

With confidence high and with the aim of further development the key objective, Wales travelled to Edinburgh for the final round of the IRB Sevens World Series. Participating in the very first match on the first day of play Wales failed against the might of their first round opposition Samoa. Samoa, who had won the Cup in New Zealand and Hong Kong and Plate in Dubai, didn’t have the complete run of play though as Wales gained two converted tries in the 21-14 loss.
Moving on from this first round defeat Wales took on France in their second match of the day. Tries from Aled Thomas, James Merriman, Lee Williams and Martyn Thomas overpowered France’s two and as Dragons’ outside half Thomas successfully converted all four Welsh efforts, Wales rode out 28-12 victors. Wales’s final Pool opponents were Italy, and as the Azzurri had beaten France earlier in the day the clash was set up as a winner-takes-all battle.

Though Italy had put nineteen unanswered points past their French counterparts they proved no obstacle for a disciplined and clinical Welsh side. Jon Edwards’s men crossed the Italian line on seven occasions with the Azzurri unable to score any points at all. This impressive 43-0 victory pushed Wales into second place in the table behind Samoa and into the second successive Cup quarter-final spot. Coach Rees commented on his team’s progress to the latter stages of the Cup, "Our goal this season was to finish in the last eight in at least three tournaments, a goal which we have now achieved. Today's results mean that we will end the IRB Sevens season as one of the top eight competing countries. It was great to pick up eight trophies on the trot but we will settle for Cup quarter-final and semi-final places every time."

Wales again met Fiji in the latter stages of the Cup competition but triumphed in a reversal of fortune from events of the last tournament. The quarter-final saw Rhodri McAtee open the scoring after he chipped ahead and gathered his own kick to cross the Fijian line; Aled Thomas converted to put Wales seven points clear. Fiji replied with a close range try from veteran Sevens member Waisale Serevi to equal the scores at the break. On the resumption of the closely fought match Wales again edged the lead. Tal Selley, who had been outstanding on the Sevens circuit throughout the season, gained line-out ball in the Fijian 22 and sliced through the defence like a hot knife through butter. Two minutes later on the back of another superb Welsh attack Aled Thomas stretched the lead to 21-7 as he converted both his own and Selley’s efforts. (Thomas finished the Scotland tournament in the top five points scorers.)

Fiji came back with a converted try to narrow the deficit to just seven points and again threatened the line on the stroke of full time, despite heroics displayed by the Welsh defence. However, having got himself in a try-scoring position Semisi Naevo knocked the ball on to gift Wales the historic Sevens win. This victory by the well-organised Welsh team drastically reduced Fiji's chances of winning a second successive IRB Sevens Series title, as they would only get a maximum eight points from the Scottish tournament if they lifted the Plate trophy.

The Fijians would have been hoping for another excellent display from the Welsh against their semi-final opponents, New Zealand, who were Fiji’s rivals for the Series Title. However, Wales could not grant the Fijian favour as they ended their tournament with a 28-0 defeat at the hands of the All Blacks, who claimed the Series with a win in the Cup final over Samoa.

Wales Sevens’ impressive season had culminated in achieving sixth position overall in the IRB Sevens World Series, after participating in just six out of the eight legs.

Wales Sevens Head Coach Dai Rees commented on his team, the close of the tournament and Series as a whole: "Wales are the only team outside of the IRB's core Sevens teams to finish the season ranked within the top eight, and we finished sixth which is an incredible achievement.

"We set out to reach the last eight three times this season but we have done that and a lot more with two semi-final places in the last two competitions. Our top four finishes mean we will be seeded top of our pool for the first two tournaments of next season in Dubai and George.

"The results are testament to the environment that has been created by our team management – the likes of Dai Jenkins the Team Manager, Gareth Baber, Assistant Coach and Huw Wiltshire, our Fitness Coach – and the boys themselves have put their heart and soul into these tournaments."

Wales are to be one of the IRB’s core Sevens members for the 2007–2008 season, and so will participate in every leg of next season’s IRB Sevens World Series. The continued development shown by the squad throughout the 2006–2007 World Series, the glut of trophies, and the top four finishes achieved in the British legs of the Series only seek to highlight the promising future that the Welsh Sevens will hopefully enjoy. This in turn will benefit regional rugby, the national Welsh XV and the profile of Welsh rugby.