With a week to go until the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series continues in Langford, we caught up with former England captain Sue Day to get a commentator’s perspective on how to go about derailing the New Zealand express, the race for Olympic qualification and whether home advantage will yield a first final of the season for Canada.
Sue, last time out in Atlanta we saw USA reach a first final since the inaugural season, they suffered a heavy loss there to New Zealand but could it be a springboard for them in the rest of the season?
It was absolutely fantastic to see the USA force themselves into the reckoning in Atlanta. You see so many new players in that team, players who are relatively new to sevens, and to see them flourishing was brilliant. I think probably for that team on that day the final was just a game too far to coin a cliché. Of course they would be disappointed with the result, but they just need to be proud of themselves for getting there in the first place because that is a huge step from where they have been. It certainly makes things very interesting in terms of that Olympic qualification place. Probably we would have named them as an outside bet for that qualification place at the beginning of the season, but they are starting to look more and more like a really strong possibility for it.
Canada have finished third in the last six tournaments, could home advantage be that missing element to push them into a final and perhaps to a first title?
You would have to say that this is their best chance all season of making a final and we’ve certainly seen some glimpses of fantastic rugby from them, they just haven’t quite managed to string it together enough games in a row. New Zealand, you may say, seem unstoppable and they have won a lot of matches, but you look at some of the results and there have been some really tight ones that they have just managed to pull out of the bag. Canada will be thinking this is our tournament, we’re at home, we’ve been putting some good rugby together recently, so let’s go for it.
Easier said than done when New Zealand will arrive in Canada on a 30-match winning streak in the Series?
It’s an incredible achievement and a lot of it is about mental preparation, they believe every time they take the pitch that they are going to win. Clearly they have got some fantastic performers around the park to help secure that win but in terms of trying to beat them other teams just have to go on that pitch telling themselves that yes, they won all those matches in a row, but look how close that match was against Russia, look how close that match was against Australia and so on. As an opposition side you are building the story in your head about how you know they are beatable not how unbeatable they are.
Portia Woodman scored a record 14 tries for New Zealand in Atlanta – five in the final – what makes her such a threat?
First of all she is a very, very good player and does the simple things very well. She catches the ball at full pace and really threatens defenders, she can step off both feet, is a balanced runner and put simply she is really, really quick! There is no substitute for that in sevens, but it is not all about Portia Woodman, the team creates the space for her and they do that by playing on the front foot, by winning really good ball at the breakdown, by making sure the defences are on the back foot and that just creates a little bit more space for the whole team and it means that Portia Woodman on the outside gets the ball in a little bit more space than a lot of other wingers would. In a sevens team is it so important to have threats all over the pitch, you can’t just expect your winger to run everything in. As a defender if you are looking up and you can see Kayla McAlister or Honey Hireme or Kelly Brazier ... there are people who can really threaten the line all over the pitch so you absolutely can’t afford to just flood Woodman’s channel.
So what might it take for a team to end New Zealand’s run in Canada?
They are a very, very good team but as a team playing against them you just need to play against them like any other team, which is starving them of possession, so keeping the ball, really working on your kick-offs and kick-off receipts so you can win as much possession as you possibly can. You also need to take a leaf out of New Zealand’s book and if you watch them in defence, especially when they are in the opponent’s 22, they just get on the front foot and put teams under so much pressure. I think if you want to play against a team like New Zealand you have to put them under the same kind of pressure, you have to stop the ball getting out to the Honey Hireme and Portia Woodman of this world in a lot of space. A team like New Zealand is always going to score tries against you, you just have to score more!
The battle for Olympic qualification is really hotting up now, particularly for that fourth spot with France, USA, England and Russia separated by just 10 points with three rounds to go?
It is impossible to call isn’t it? From here you would certainly expect New Zealand, Canada and Australia to make it. It is by no means certain for Australia and Canada but you’d be surprised if they didn’t. And then that fourth place, any of those four could make it. Russia played some really good rugby in Atlanta, England did on the first day and then inexplicably seemed to disappear on the second, France we know what they can do when they get it together and USA have suddenly turned themselves into real contenders. You just can’t call that fourth place and it is really going to be about who performs on the day and who can handle the pressure of Olympic qualification.
That Olympic factor must be weighing on the minds of players?
The real trick I think for the coaches and the sports psychologists is to help teams prepare for tournaments without thinking about that too much because there is a lot of pressure on players playing in these tournaments anyway, it is just nerve-wracking going out in front of those crowds and playing such a big occasion, the World Sevens Series, without adding more pressure of we have to win this match because of Olympic qualification. When players start to feel that they will tense up, they will stop going for things and so it is going to be the team that is able to stop thinking about Olympic qualification that achieves Olympic qualification.
Brazil don’t have to worry about qualification but they’ve really started to fulfil their promise in the last two rounds?
It was exactly what we were all hoping for I think. They have done a brilliant job of bringing players through and of turning themselves into a team that is really contending now. They got into the quarter-finals the last two tournaments which is a huge achievement for them. That’s really exciting and to also see how much further they can go. I know they have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes, preparing their B team if you like with lots of young players coming through, so hopefully this won’t be the last Olympics that Brazil go to.
What are you expecting from the Canada Sevens with some interesting match-ups on the road to Rio with England-New Zealand, Australia-France and Canada-USA?
Canada-USA is huge isn’t it, given what happened in Atlanta. We have talked about how Canada are probably favourites for that because of the home advantage but the USA will be on a real high. Games between those two are always really, really tight. France-Australia there is a bit of history to that too after Atlanta. There have been some really tight games between them recently and really hard to call. Australia suffered a couple of injuries at the end of Atlanta if Charlotte Caslick and Emilee Cherry are fit then they will pretty much be at full-strength, if they’re not then it will be a huge challenge to go through a whole tournament without two such pivotal players. England v New Zealand, it’s always a tough pool for whoever gets draw in New Zealand’s pool so it is England’s turn.
Talking of England, are you surprised – given they now have the full-time programme – that their best result this season is a Plate victory?
Yes, I am. I thought they would be top four in Atlanta. I wasn’t too surprised earlier in the season because they had a lot of players who played in the XVs World Cup and were injured, tired or just hadn’t really been around and a lot of players who had played a lot of XVs and very little sevens. I thought they would probably have come through more strongly by now. Canada becomes a real big tournament for them because they need to really start making a mark on these tournaments soon. It’s not just about Olympic qualification but it is about showing the rest of the world that they really mean business in sevens.Talking of England, are you surprised – given they now have the full-time programme – that their best result this season is a Plate victory?
So, to put you on the spot, what is your tip for the final in Langford?
We had better tip Canada for the final I think. They have nearly got there on a few occasions and are playing at home now. I think they will probably play New Zealand or Australia. It is hard to discount New Zealand at this point, they have been playing so well. You would be pretty foolish not to tip them for the final.
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