Singha Premiership Rugby 7s: Squad announcement

Scarlets have named their squad for this Friday’s Welsh leg of the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s tournament at BT Sport Cardiff Arms Park.

Dai Flanagan has named Scarlets’ squad for the opening leg of the 2016 competition with Carmarthen Quins’ Iolo Evans captaining the regional side once again this year.

Seven players (Jake Conway, Matthew Owen, Aron Evans, Shaun Pearce, Aaron Warren, Iolo Evans and Rhodri Jones) who featured in last year’s series final at the Twickenham Stoop will return for the Welsh regional opener.

Scarlets 7s coach Dai Flanagan said: “As a region we’re very much looking forward to evening. We had a successful run in this competition last year and it set a feel good factor within the region. We won the first six games and the confidence spread through the group and hopefully we can repeat that this year.

“The Welsh leg of the competition is a little bit earlier this year but it’s a good way of blowing the cobwebs away in pre-season.”

With 7s very much at the forefront of people’s minds with its inclusion in the Olympic Games for the first time Flanagan believes the Singha Premiership Rugby 7s event offers people an insight into the fast-paced game ahead of the global competition.

“I think the Singha 7s will be watched more this year than it’s ever been watched in the past with the interest surrounding 7s and the Olympics at the moment. It’s an exciting competition for these young players to be a part of. You just have to look at the track record of Welsh players who have played sevens and gone on to represent their country. It’s a good opportunity for these boys and they’ll be much better players for the experience.”

Scarlets squad;

1. Iolo Evans (Carmarthen Quins)
2. Matthew Owen (Scarlets)
3. Jake Conway (unattached)
4. Shaun Pearce (Llandovery)
5. Rhodri Davies (Llandovery)
6. Ashley Evans (Llanelli)
7. Aron Evans (Llandovery)
8. Dion Jones (Llanelli)
9. Rhodri Jones (Llandovery)
10. Nathan Edwards (Llanelli)
11. Scott Gibson (Llandovery)
12. Aaron Warren (Llandovery)