USA Rugby Women’s 7s Open Camp with Coach Ric Suggitt

“Don’t be last!” shouted USA Rugby Women’s 7s National Team coach Ric Suggitt as he urged players to hustle to start the camp, “Sevens is a fast game, don’t be last!”

On Sunday August 19, Ric Suggitt held an open camp for players and coaches after the 7s National All Star Championships at the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, CA.  Over 60 women and coaches attended the camp, including the 8 full time resident 7s players who were encouraged to play with their territories for NASCs, which they all did.

“Don’t be last!” Ric shouted again, as players lined up for a race.  Ric shared some wisdom, “God’s gift to us is to run.  If you run you will have fun.  To have fun, you must run.”  First the forwards, then halfbacks, then backs raced against each other in a 22m race, then a 40m race while someone videotaped the races at the finish line. “Now I know how fast you are, you can’t send me phony numbers anymore, because I have it on tape!” Ric said after the last heat.

Ric stressed the importance of fitness, speed of the game, recognition of situations on the field, and other key points that need to improve to advance the overall quality of women’s 7s in the USA.  The goal of the camp was to identify and work on skills that needed improvement based on how everyone played throughout the whole tournament.  Ric had four guest coaches who conducted drills at each station based on what the coaches noticed while watching the NASCs 7s matches.  Throughout the camp, Ric was energetic and kept the pace moving.  During the drills Ric told us “When I ask you what you are going to do, don’t say ‘Coach, I’m going to attack space’ or ‘Coach, I’m going to tackle low’. No! I want you to make magic.”

Station 1 stressed the importance of the scrumhalf pass and technique of the pass, and L running – drawing the defender and passing, after the pass keep moving to block the defender (but be careful not to obstruct).  Station 2 focused on the importance of recognizing situations and match ups like 2 vs. 3, and how to attack the defenders and open up space.  Station 3 really broke down the ruck area, emphasizing the roles of 1 (ball carrier), 2 (rucker), and 3 (halfback), creating clean ball for 3, and a quick scrumhalf pass out.  Station 4 was a continuous drill that worked on support and always having the 1, 2, and 3 at the breakdown.

In between rotations, Ric had us play different variations of touch rugby 7s with different restarts, and after the 3^rd rotation we did 6 minutes of the dreaded Death Flop, a down-up fitness test.  For the 7s games cones were scattered along both sides of the 50m line.  To start the games, players passed the ball down the line until the whistle blew, or 4 players on offense had to switch cones with 4 defensive players, or on the whistle everyone had to drop to the ground and hit the deck – everyone including all the players and coaches on the sidelines.

It was a great learning experience overall, playing with and against talented and experienced 7s rugby players, and getting exposed to new drills and coaching styles.  Growing rugby every step of the way.