Wales men and women completed the double by being crowned World Deaf Rugby Sevens World Cup champions in Cordoba, Argentina. 

It is the first time Wales women had reached the final, beating England 32-0. Wales men successfully defended their title against Australia with a a 20-5 victory, sealing a third successive title. 

The tournament was the third Deaf Rugby World Cup and Wales men had won both previous competitions. 

Wales men beat Argentina 25-5 in the quarter-finals before seeing off last time’s finalists, England, 14-5 in the semis. 

Wales women had already beaten England in the pool stage, 19-0, with a 36-0 win over Australia and a walkover against Barbarians making it a clean sweep. 

Rhodri Garland, Assistant Branch Manager at TP Aberdare has just returned from the tournament. He formed part of the 12-man squad that defended their title. 

Rhodri said:

“I have been wearing hearing aids for six years and have been into rugby since I was old enough to kick a ball.” While he plays both rugby league and rugby union, he came across Wales Deaf Rugby almost by accident when a friend persuaded him to put himself forward for trials. Wales Deaf Rugby offers deaf and hard-of-hearing rugby players the opportunity to play international rugby for Wales. And that’s exactly what Rhodri’s done.

“I had successful trials back in 2019 and was selected to play for the squad in 2020 where I got my first Welsh caps. My Regional Director and Branch Manager have been really supportive – they’ve arranged player sponsorship and helped me secure the time off I needed to take part in competitions,” Rhodri added.

Huge congratulations to Rhodri and the men and women of the World Deaf 7’s. What a fantastic achievement.  

If you’d like to hear more about Rhodri and the World Deaf 7s you can catch up on the interview with S4C online on BBC iPlayer. 

We wish Rhodri more luck in the future as he’s just received confirmation that he’ll be playing against England in the summer as well as being re-selected to play for Wales Rugby League in Home Nations matches later this year..