Craig Hill raced over in the first half and Lee Rees scored in the second period to lead Wales’s charge to a 14-5 victory over Russia in a hard fought final. Gareth Rees banged over two conversions to complete the scoring for Wales.

Russia rallied late on to score through Lev Sleptsov but it proved too little too late as Wales picked up their second title in two weeks.

En route to the final Wales swept aside the challenge of Tunisia 33-0 in the quarter-final before brushing aside the rapidly improving Portugal 24-7 in the semis.

After being knocked out of the main draw after finishing their pool in third place behind New Zealand and Samoa, Wales were looking to assert their authority in the Bowl competition.

In the quarter-final bowl against Tunisia there was only one side in it. Wales led 19-0 at the break thanks to tries by Justin Tiperic, Ashley Beck and Ifan Evans.

Wales suffered a setback when Chris Davies was sin binned in first minute of second half but tries by Alex Cuthbert and Gareth Davies ensured passage through to the semis.

Portugal put up a tougher fight in the semi-final and held Wales to a 5-0 lead after a Cuthbert try. But Wales stepped up a gear in the second spell and got the perfect start when Davies scampered over. Goncalo Foro hit back with Diogo Miranda adding the extras but Justin Tiperic put the issue beyond doubt with two smartly taken tries.

Wales coach Paul John was a delighted man after guiding his young side to their second success within seven days.

“Let’s be realistic, we’ve got eight brand new players in the squad. Eight players who have not played sevens tournament rugby before. But this bunch of youngsters have grown and grown tremendously on and off the field.

“They have pushed all the sides really close over the first two tournaments. We’ve played all the big teams over the past couple of weeks except for Kenya and England and to be fair, they have done themselves proud.

“We’ve got a lot more points than we did this time last year, so we’ve exceeded expectations from the first two tournaments so they can take confidence from what they have achieved.

“They have won both Bowls comfortably and two win two Bowls is difficult. They’ve shown they have the potential to get into the semi-finals of the main draw.”

Davies is currently with the Wales Sevens squad in Dubai having caught the eye of Paul John and the Wales Sevens management team.

Principality Premiership holders Cardiff are currently fifth in the table but only three points behind leaders Neath, and were the only Welsh side to win both their opening British and Irish Cup ties in November, beating Pontypridd 22-16 and Birmingham & Solihull 51-20. Davies has amassed 145 points already this season, already closing in on last year’s tally of 208.

Premiership head coaches, WRU and Regional academy staff, and selected journalists select the winner who receives £100 from the Principality Building Society, title sponsors of the competition.

Davies, who hails from Cefn Hengoed and played all of his junior and youth rugby for Penallta Rugby Club said, “I’m really enjoying my rugby at the moment. It’s my third season with Cardiff and my game seems to have come together well this season. The coaching has been good and Lee Jarvis has helped a lot with my kicking and my all-round game and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my Wales Sevens experience so far.”

Cardiff assistant coach Jarvis added, “Gareth produced consistently good performances last season and has upped his game again this season, earning him a call-up to Wales Sevens.

“He is working very hard on his game, developing week by week and hopefully he will get some Regional rugby for the Blues by the end of the season. He has a good group of players around him at Cardiff but he controls the game well. I’m sure the experience of these two Sevens tournaments will benefit him greatly, both in terms of his game and his confidence.

“As far as our goals as a team are concerned, we are satisfied with where we are in the League at the moment. This time last year we were in a similar position and we went on to win the title so we are not too worried at the moment. We started slowly but we are now building well. We have played a lot of games recently and we’ve got a tough match on the weekend at Sardis Road but we are definitely keen to retain our title – and go as far as we can in the British and Irish Cup too.”

Mark Richards, Principality Retail Sales Manager for Cardiff, said: “Congratulations to Gareth Davies on winning this month’s Player of the Month award. Gareth has had an outstanding start to the season and we hope he returns from Dubai with even greater determination.

“We wish Gareth and the team all the best in the New Year and hope that they will once again reign as Principality Premiership champions.”

Gareth Davies fact file:

• DoB: 02.03.84
• Place of Birth: Caerphilly
• Club: Cardiff RFC
• Player most admired: Matt Giteau
• Sportsman most admired: Tiger Woods
• Career outside rugby: Bricklayer

Only captain Chris Davies (Aberavon), Newport’s Craig Hill, Cross Keys flanker Jevon Groves and Llandovery flyer Ifan Evans have previous international Sevens experience, with Hill the only member of Wales’ Rugby World Cup Sevens winning squad set to return to Dubai. All four are contracted WRU core Sevens players, as are uncapped trio Chris Morgan (Aberavon), Nicky Thomas (Swansea) and Lloyd Wiliams (Blues).

Ospreys youngsters Ashley Beck and Justin Tipuric, Cardiff outside half Gareth Davies, Scarlets Academy scrum half Lee Rees and UWIC’s Alex Cuthbert have been added to the squad for these two legs of the Series.

Wales have a tough draw at next week’s Dubai tournament, with last year’s Series winners South Africa, Australia and Arabian Gulf their Pool opponents.

John said, “Following our success at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai, a lot of our squad have gone on to secure new professional contracts in the fifteen a side game, which is a positive result of the win, and we have taken the opportunity to bring in some new players into the squad so it’s a fresh start in lots of ways.

“The WRU has introduced core contracts for Sevens players which is hugely positive for us. It means we are able to achieve a consistency of selection that we have never had before. As a full time member of staff I also have more time to work on preparation, analysis and coaching with the players.

“Ashley Beck, Justin Tipuric and Nicky Thomas have already played some Regional rugby this season but Sevens is a key development tool for us as a Union and we hope players like these will gain a huge amount in skill levels, experience and confidence from international Sevens which will serve them well in the professional game. Gareth Davies and Lee Rees have been playing exceptionally well in the Principality Premiership and Alex Cuthbert has played quite a bit on the invitational Sevens circuit.

“Chris (Davies) has been selected as captain for these tournaments. He has a terrific work ethic and we believe he will lead by example.”

Despite the tough draw, John is buoyed by his side’s preparation for the season ahead.

“We recently played in a training tournament in France, where we played France, Scotland, a Moroccan side and an Argentinean team. We played five games and managed to pip Scotland in the final to win the tournament. That was the first time we’ve been able to play some competitive rugby before the Sevens season kicks off, so it was great for us. It means the new players have some matches under their belt before Dubai. We usually start the season slowly due to lack of playing and training time but hopefully that experience will help us this time around.

“We have a tough pool with last year’s champions, South Africa, Australia, who we failed to beat in a number of meetings last season and the Arabian Gulf so we just want the players to play to their potential and the aim, as it was in the world cup, will be to try and get out of the pool and go from there. That will be the aim throughout the season – to try and get into more Cup quarter-finals and move up the IRB rankings.

“It will be a steep learning curve for our squad and while they are a very talented group of boys, they may take a while to gel.

“Dubai is a fantastic competition, there is a huge Welsh contingency in the crowd and I’m sure our players will grow through the tournament.”

Wales Sevens squad for Dubai and George:

Chris Davies (capt, Aberavon), Lee Rees (Scarlets Academy), Chris Morgan (Aberavon), Gareth Davies (Cardiff), Nicky Thomas (Swansea), Lloyd Williams (Blues), Ashley Beck (Ospreys), Ifan Evans (Llandovery), Craig Hill (Newport), Alex Cuthbert (UWIC), Justin Tipuric (Ospreys), Jevon Groves (Cross Keys)

Nathan Strong’s side are currently top of the Principality Premiership table, despite their last two games being called off, after winning their last six games on the trot, and nine of their 11 games to date. They won all five of their October games, beating Bedwas, the Wanderers and Cardiff away from home and Swansea and Newport at Sardis Road.

Downes played in four of those five October victories, scoring tries in the wins over Swansea and Newport.

Principality Premiership head coaches, WRU and Regional academy staff, and selected journalists select the winner who receives £100 from the Principality Building Society, title sponsors of the competition.

Pontypridd head coach Paul John said: “Rhys has played exceptionally well so far this season. He came back from the Junior World Championship in Japan with good reports from coach Phil Davies and he’s been training full time with the Blues ever since.

“As a result, his performances week-in, week-out have been consistently high, he’s a threat to opposition, he’s quick, he’s got a great attitude and thoroughly deserves this award. It will be great if he can push on and get some regional rugby this season.”

Downes, whose father and uncle also played for Pontypridd, added: “It’s great to be recognised in this way, it’s definitely down to the way we’ve been playing this season. The forwards are playing well giving the backs good ball to work with.

“There’s a lot to play for this season and we want to be pushing for honours in all three competitions.

“On a personal note, I think my game has benefitted from staying injury free and from regularly training with experienced internationals at the Blues – that’s definitely rubbed off on my performances with Ponty.

“My aims for this season are to continue performing well and get into the Wales Under 20 squad for the Six Nations. It would also be fantastic to get some Regional game time.”

John is happy with his side’s good start to the Premiership campaign, but is conscious of the task ahead.

“The boys have really worked hard since the start of the season, it’s been great working with Dale McIntosh who demands high standards all the time and team manager Richard Langmead.

“The players are fully committed, and we have a stronger squad with youngsters creating competition for places in the starting line-up.

“It’s good to be where we are at the moment, we have shown some consistency away from home that was lacking last season, winning in Bedwas and Ebbw Vale, where we didn’t win last year, but we have some difficult games coming up. We have Aberavon, Cardiff, and the games against Llanelli and Neath now need to be re-arranged due to postponements. It’s now a matter of performing well against the sides around us in the table.”

Pontypridd host Cardiff on Friday night, this time in the inaugural British and Irish Cup.

“It’s going to be a step up in standard to play against fully professional sides like Doncaster but it’s a competition the whole town is looking forward to. A lot of Ponty fans are off to Ayr in February to support us, that’s something we haven’t had since our days in the European Cup. First up it’s Cardiff, obviously a side we are familiar with but I’m sure the atmosphere at Sardis Road will be electric.”

Rhys Downes factfile:

• DoB: 10.03.90
• Place of Birth: Pontypridd
• Club: Pontypridd / Blues academy
• Position: Scrum half
• Nickname: Downsey
• Player most admired: Joost van der Westhuizen
• Sportsman most admired: Cristiano Ronaldo
• Biggest impact on career – my father Robert and the rest of my family
• Career outside rugby: planning on taking electrician course in near future
• Other sports played: Football, athletics