America’s Rugby Sevens Teams Try to Restart the Pandemic Era


CHULA VISTA, California — Momentum is a funny thing in sports. It may crystallize out of sight and disappear just as easily.

American men’s and women’s rugby sevens teams know this. Both teams turned lackluster performances at the 2018 World Cup into spectacular 2019 campaigns, finishing second in the world and their highest rankings ever. They hoped the success would get them into a medal contest at the Tokyo Games in 2020.

The epidemic forced the teams to step on the brakes. After more than a year with just a handful of matches during the pandemic, they will try to regain their magic at the Olympics on Monday, the first day of the rugby sevens tournament.

“Losing 15 months has definitely hurt us in terms of momentum and the way forward,” men’s coach Mike Friday said at the team’s training camp this month. “But we are not alone. Many teams will feel inadequate going in. There will be some fear, anticipation and anxiety.”

Rugby sevens is an unforgiving sport, with matches lasting just 14 minutes with a two-minute break in the middle. With fewer players on the field, one mistake can lead to a poor breakout score. The margins are thin. The USA men’s team was unable to qualify for the Rio de Janeiro Games because he felt a bit shy. A similar fate befell the team at the World Cup in San Francisco.

This year, on the men’s side, a perennial powerhouse in South Africa, the so-called death group with a tough squad from promising Ireland and Kenya pulled out.

“There is no second chance,” said Stephen Tomasin, who took part in his first Olympics. “How brutal our game is, you miss an opportunity or two and you come home a loser.”

More importantly, some of the team’s best players are returning from injury, including team captain Madison Hughes and Folau Niua. Perry Baker, who was named World Rugby Sevens Player in 2017 and 2018, injured his leg earlier this year. Another daredevil, Ben Pinkelman, left the team due to a chronic back injury.

“The pandemic is throwing momentum out the window,” said Rupert Cox, rugby commentator for NBC Sports. “The key issue is players struggling after injury.”

Due to travel restrictions, US teams only played a few friendlies, including Spain and Los Angeles, limiting their experience against potential rivals. Training against each other can be difficult because players want to risk everything but not risk injuring themselves or their teammates.

“You want to be better and you want them to be better too, but that’s not like competing with someone you don’t know,” said Kevon Williams, another first-time Olympian. “It’s like a really fine line. We need everybody to get to 100 percent. If someone goes to 100 and someone goes to 50 percent, there’s probably an injury.”

On paper, the women’s team has an easier way to medal. He should beat China and Japan in the group stage and maybe knock out the Australians. Canada and New Zealand are among the toughest marks in the knockout stage.

“According to Twitter, what people want to see is the New Zealand-USA final,” said co-captain Abby Gustaitis. “But we don’t want to leave behind our pool stages or the quarterfinals.”

Many members of the women’s team played other sports before rugby, making them an athletic group with speed, stature and strength. Gustaitis, for example, played basketball before playing rugby at age 18. Kristi Kirshe played soccer and football.

“I’m a hard person to deal with,” Kirshe said. “I’m not really afraid of the contact zone as I grew up playing football as a kid.”

Ultimately, both teams agree that each team will pass at some level. The key will be to start fast and not let small mistakes derail your ambitions.

“This is the most important event for us,” said Kris Thomas, another co-captain of the women’s team. “Internationally we play rugby sevens quite often. But this is the big dance we prepared.”



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *