Small Tweaks in 7s Camp

Every healthy player in camp with the USA Men’s National 7s team will be in action next week at the USA 7s. There are 25 players in camp, and with one likely too injured to play, the remaining 24 will be split up between the USA team in the international tournament, and the USA Falcons team at the Men’s Elite 7s.

“This is a great opportunity for us,” said USA Head Coach Matt Hawkins. “We are able to train all the way into our home tournament. Then we have two weeks to work on things before we play in Wellington. With us having 25 players in residency, we can have full-on training and do a lot more things.”

Hawkins has tweaked a few things in training, although he was quick to say he hasn’t tweaked much. His big change has been to have enough players to provide real competition for spots. His other change has been to increase the frequency of fitness testing.

That second thing isn’t because the players are unfit – “we didn’t lose games because we were unfit,” said Hawkins – but because it fosters a feeling of competition, within the team and within each player. The players said they felt tired, and yet the fitness scores are going up, with Carlin Isles posting some particularly impressive scores.

As for tactics, Hawkins said he is not changing much.

“We are breaking down things into smaller and smaller pieces and looking more closely at some of the technical aspects of what we do,” he said. “What we need to do is execute. We break it all down for the guys and show them, this is what we want to do and this is how we do it. We’re developing the atmosphere, where each player thinks on why he did what he did.”

So it’s training the body and the mind, and with the competition in camp, it’s training the heart, as well. It all will work toward that goal for each player – making the team that plays in the stadium next weekend.

It’s likely you will see some changes or surprises in the squad next week. Hawkins intimated that he is seeing some big improvement from some players and strong performances from some of the new guys, as well.

“We have a lot more options now,” he said.