WALES Women sevens coach Nick Wakley has called on his side to build on a promising performance in France as they bid to secure qualification for the Commonwealth Games.

The Welsh speedsters finished sixth in last weekend’s Rugby Europe Sevens event in Brive and are now preparing for Russia on July 8 and 9.

They beat Belgium 28-0 and Sweden 24-12 on day one to secure a spot in the cup quarters before being overpowered 50-5 by France.

Wales were edged out 12-10 by England in the quarter-finals then beat the Belgians again 12-7 before losing to Spain 19-10 in the play-off for fifth.

"The girls have come so far," said Wakley, who left his coaching role with Ebbw Vale to be part of the national management team at sevens and 15s.

"They were professional throughout the tournament, and were clinical in scoring some good tries.

“Most pleasing for me was, despite a drop in performance levels for some of the France game, we still caused problems against them and were competitive against three World Series teams who train full-time - England, France and Spain.

"We played well in our first two games and knew we'd qualified for the Cup quarters. Despite a disappointing result against France at the end of day one, we regrouped and prepared well for England.

“We knew if we played to our maximum we had a chance of winning. We showed real grit in that game, were excellent in the contact area and in attack and it could have gone either way."

The former utility back, himself a former Wales 7s international, believes there is plenty to build on for Kazan.

"We've got to replicate and improve our performances now," said. "We want to turn heads with our performances, make sure of Gold Coast Commonwealth Games qualification and hopefully get involved in the World Series.

"We have a tough draw in Kazan with Italy, Netherlands, who have had recent World Series exposure in Canada, and home team Russia, who were overall winners last weekend.

“They are well-structured, have great physicality and athletic ability like all the World Series sides. That will be a fantastic test to see how far we've come."