Dubai: All eyes are on the USA ahead of their first Sevens World Cup hosting in San Francisco next summer, and Eagles coach Mike Friday is eager to capitalise on the exposure gained from the tournament to take America to the next level.
Under the Englishman, the USA have just recorded their best ever World Series finish of fifth and have seen an American crowned World Sevens Player of the Year for the first time in former NFL player Perry Baker. But there’s more to do to close the gap on the traditional rugby playing nations, according to Friday, and he says that starts with greater cohesion with the NFL.
DUBAI OPENER
The build-up to San Francisco starts this weekend with the World Series opener in Dubai, where the USA’s best finish was third in 2015. They have previously only ever won one event, in London in 2015, since becoming a World Series core nation in 2008, but failed to get out of their group at last year’s Olympics and previously haven’t got past the plate quarter-finals of a World Cup.
“We’re in a good place but we are under no illusions how difficult it will be just to get out of our pool this weekend,” he said of Dubai. “We have the most physical group in Argentina, New Zealand and Samoa.
“We want to be pushing for the latter rounds of the Cup, competing for shiny things in every tournament, and breaking into the top four of the World Series, but that’s a big ask. We should have done it last year, we got to four semi-finals and should have won two of them, but our lack of experience hurt us.
“As for the World Cup we will go all out to win it of course, but we know how difficult that will be because there are 23 other teams trying to do the same and the nature of the knockout format means anything can happen.
“We took the decision to take three months off so we are undercooked coming into Dubai, but we did that so we could build into the World Cup and hit the ground running come January. Luckily, unlike other teams, we don’t have the distraction of the Commonwealth Games in Australia in April.”
LACK OF EQ
The former England and Kenya sevens coach who took charge of the USA in 2014, has led the Eagles on an impressive charge for the top four thanks to players crossing over from NFL into Sevens. But, he explains, their transition has been too late.
“We have all the attacking weapons of power, physicality and pace, but we’re just learning rugby EQ (emotional intelligence) and that’s where we are not as fortunate as Fiji, England, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia, who have that tier-one rugby tradition.
“A lot of our guys don’t have the benefit of having played during the golden ages of 11-18, so they are picking the game up later and playing catch up.
“They are picking up a rugby ball for the first time at 22-23, having just come from NFL, which is a collision sport, to rugby, which is a contact evasion sport, and the mindset is very different. It’s hard to learn at 22-23 if you’re not exposed at 11-18.
“High school coaches in America make players specialise, but NFL and Sevens are aligned and there’s enough evidence to suggest that you shouldn’t specialise, as one sport can help the other. You only have to look at the number of NFL teams who are using rugby tackling and passing techniques in training.
“What we need to do is educate high schools and reposition rugby as an alternative, so players can still chase the American dream of playing in the NFL, but for the 95 per cent that don’t make it, they can still be Olympians in Sevens. At the moment some unbelievable athletes have got nowhere to go after failing to get into the NFL because they don’t have the rugby EQ they need, because they only started at 23.”
SHOWCASING THE GAME
America’s World Cup hosting will be pivotal in passing on that message to schools and parents, he said.
“This will be an immensely big year for the USA to showcase the game in their homeland, and these boys have to be pioneers in terms of role models to drive the popularity of the sport and promote it as an alternative that complements the traditional super sports of America.
“Everyone knows about NFL, but if rugby can complement it and be an alternative and break into the sporting high school and collegiate landscape that would unlock athletic ability, allow me to grow the talent pool, and make us even more competitive than we currently are.
“If we keep this group together, stay injury free and keep moving forward we could compete for medals at 2020, but what happens in 2024 and 2028 is determined on what happens now. If we don’t get our house in order and take advantage of what this group are pioneering and doing now, we won’t see the benefits in 2024 and 2028.”
CONCUSSION
Friday even suggested Sevens could help the NFL through their current concussion crisis.
“The reality is rugby is a safe sport because we have safe tackling techniques and we’re a contact evasion sport, whereas NFL is not. We could educate the NFL in that area.
“I don’t know why the NFL doesn’t invest some of their millions into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) player welfare programmes involving rugby to provide a safer environment for kids, at the same time as providing them with a credible alternative in Sevens for those that don’t make it in the NFL.
“Some have said the NFL will die due to the concussion crisis because parents won’t let their kids play, but there are so many ways and means rugby can ensure that doesn’t happen.
“Rugby has those answers but doesn’t have the money. NFL does, and could allow us to upskill and develop the infrastructure.”
IPL-STYLE TOURNAMENT
Friday also added that Sevens has the potential to find its place in the already crowded commercial landscape of American sport.
“It’s fast, energetic, high action, comes in bite-size chunks, and isn’t complicated.
“This is where an IPL domestic sevens series sitting between the NFL and NBA seasons between June and September would fit a dream. IMG have mentioned doing it in Europe and it’s a great idea but the wrong geography. Europe is all tier-one and already has 15s. But it makes perfect sense to do it in North America, and who will follow? China. “That’s the way to open doors and then you allow the 15s game to flourish. It’s not going to happen the other way around.
PLAYING CATCH UP
“Traditional tier-one nations have stolen our march since the turn of professionalism in 1995 and in terms of athletic ability we are on par, but their rugby EQ has surpassed ours and there’s a gap to bridge. We are one of the only nations in the world capable of closing that gap. Everyone else is too far behind. The only one after us that could do it is China.
“In the women’s game it’s different,” he added. “Tier one nations are just a few years ahead of us after the more recent onset of professionalism. But athletic ability among the women in America is ridiculous, and if rugby could position itself as an alternative to soccer and lacrosse from the ages of 13 and up, they would be unstoppable. They should be winning now, because the legacy of tier-one women’s teams is not the same as the men’s.”
The USA women’s best finish in Dubai is third in the plate in 2014. Their best run in an event is runner-up three times at the USA sevens twice in 2013 and 2015 and the Sydney Sevens once in 2017. Meanwhile in the World Cup they twice reached the cup semi-finals in 2009 and 2013, and reached the quarters at the Olympics in 2016.
