Dragons Birthday boy Jevon Groves produced a real captain's knock to provide Wales with a nail-biting 14-7 Plate victory over Argentina with 26 seconds remaining on the clock in the Adelaide leg of the HSBC Sevens World Series.
Wales were down to nine men with Gareth Davies, Kristian Phillips and Adam Thomas all forced out of the Plate semis and final through injury and with Lee Rees having returned home for family reasons. They had to withstand a huge defensive effort by Argentina and despite keeping a vice like grip on the ball for extended periods of the final, Paul John's men found it tough to break down the opposition defence.
In a cagey first half Wales had to leave it until the dying stages before speedster Alex Cuthbert broke clear of Manuel Montero and raced clear from halfway to score under the posts. Rhys Jones added the extras to give Wales a 7-0 lead at halftime. Wales dominated the first two and a half minutes of the second half but Cuthbert threw the ball back aimlessly when he had Warren Davies unmarked close to the Pumas line.
Diego Palma couldn't believe his luck and gleefully picked up the ball to run the length of the field to bring Argentina back into the game. Wales camped back inside the Argentina 22 but were kept at bay until Nicky Griffiths injected pace into an attack before the impressive Rhys Jones put his captain clear and Groves did the rest.
Groves was a happy man once the final hooter went. "It was a really good effort by the boys, fair play to Argentina - they kept us out for very long periods. The character of the boys is tremendous, we were disappointed last week in Hong Kong but I think we really stepped up to the plate and deservedly won the final.
"I think the key in the final was keeping hold of the ball. We know Argentina are very dangerous on the counter attack. It's good to get over the whitewash but the hard work was done by the boys in the middle which created the space for me."
Wales were earlier knocked out of the main draw but pushed England all the way before bowing out 17-12 in the Cup quarters. England led 14-7 at the break with Cuthbert scoring Wales's try in the first half. Groves stunned England with a try in the early stages of the second half to bring Wales within two points.
With Wales pushing the favourites all the way, it was left to veteran Ben Gollings to knock over a penalty to edge his side home. The defeat put Wales into the Plate section where they faced Fiji in the semi-finals. Wales showed fortitude and character to record a famous 22-21 win with first half tries by Rhodri Gomer Davies and Rhys Jones along with a second half brace by Cuthbert.
Wales head coach Paul John said, "Firstly, it was great to get into the Cup quarters and the 26-14 defeat of Kenya was massive after being 14 points down. We were disappointed not to beat England in the end but to come out and beat Fiji and Argentina with nine men is terrific. The boys worked really hard for each other and to win the Plate is a real pick-up for the squad after two difficult weeks."
Wales were down to nine men with Gareth Davies, Kristian Phillips and Adam Thomas all forced out of the Plate semis and final through injury and with Lee Rees having returned home for family reasons. They had to withstand a huge defensive effort by Argentina and despite keeping a vice like grip on the ball for extended periods of the final, Paul John's men found it tough to break down the opposition defence.
In a cagey first half Wales had to leave it until the dying stages before speedster Alex Cuthbert broke clear of Manuel Montero and raced clear from halfway to score under the posts. Rhys Jones added the extras to give Wales a 7-0 lead at halftime. Wales dominated the first two and a half minutes of the second half but Cuthbert threw the ball back aimlessly when he had Warren Davies unmarked close to the Pumas line.
Diego Palma couldn't believe his luck and gleefully picked up the ball to run the length of the field to bring Argentina back into the game. Wales camped back inside the Argentina 22 but were kept at bay until Nicky Griffiths injected pace into an attack before the impressive Rhys Jones put his captain clear and Groves did the rest.
Groves was a happy man once the final hooter went. "It was a really good effort by the boys, fair play to Argentina - they kept us out for very long periods. The character of the boys is tremendous, we were disappointed last week in Hong Kong but I think we really stepped up to the plate and deservedly won the final.
"I think the key in the final was keeping hold of the ball. We know Argentina are very dangerous on the counter attack. It's good to get over the whitewash but the hard work was done by the boys in the middle which created the space for me."
Wales were earlier knocked out of the main draw but pushed England all the way before bowing out 17-12 in the Cup quarters. England led 14-7 at the break with Cuthbert scoring Wales's try in the first half. Groves stunned England with a try in the early stages of the second half to bring Wales within two points.
With Wales pushing the favourites all the way, it was left to veteran Ben Gollings to knock over a penalty to edge his side home. The defeat put Wales into the Plate section where they faced Fiji in the semi-finals. Wales showed fortitude and character to record a famous 22-21 win with first half tries by Rhodri Gomer Davies and Rhys Jones along with a second half brace by Cuthbert.
Wales head coach Paul John said, "Firstly, it was great to get into the Cup quarters and the 26-14 defeat of Kenya was massive after being 14 points down. We were disappointed not to beat England in the end but to come out and beat Fiji and Argentina with nine men is terrific. The boys worked really hard for each other and to win the Plate is a real pick-up for the squad after two difficult weeks."
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