Dragons Academy winger Rio Dyer won praise after his Wales Sevens debut in New Zealand – with Head Coach Richie Pugh admitting: “He doesn't know good he can be at sevens.”
Wales endured a tough experience in Hamilton losing to Fiji - the eventual winners – before defeats to Australia and Argentina in an ultra-competitive Pool D on day one.
However, among the bright spots were eye-catching tries from Dragons' Dyer - joined by regional team-mates George Gasson and Joe Godchild for the tournament - as the 19-year-old debutant scored against Australia, Argentina and France in the tournament.
"For someone like Rio, completely knew to the game, he doesn't know good he can be at sevens," said Pugh.
"With his x-factor, that blistering pace, he can be a dangerous player on the series. But it's about instilling that confidence.
“You want him to open up and show what he's got. He needs to learn about the game and keep developing, which is part of the programme.
"There were real positive glimpses from everyone, so it's about grouping those things together.
“There were other new boys like Tom Rogers, and Reuben Morgan-Williams, who was excellent in our last game.
“It's knowing they can do impressive things and going out and doing it again. They don't know how good they can be yet - we just need to give these players time."
Wales have now been drawn in a pool with New Zealand, Scotland and Spain for the Sydney Sevens next weekend.
And Pugh is keen for them to learn the lessons of Hamilton, that saw Wales lose to Spain and France on day one.
He said: "You don't want to gloss over anything and say that we're getting better for losing, but the lessons were learnt: we got completely schooled in the contact area against Fiji, and showed signs of improvement against Australia.
“When you're new to the game, the lessons come thick and fast. Even though a game is only 14 minutes, so much can happen in that time."
He continued: "What's good to see is that there were improvements on the second day - and that's not just clutching at positives.
“We were too soft in some areas, and a game can so easily get away from you in sevens. Our boys aren't used to that, but we've got to trust ourselves and regroup for the challenge of next week and look forward to representing our country on the World Series."
With his x-factor, that blistering pace, he can be a dangerous player on the series. But it's about instilling that confidence...
