The Women Eagles were busy on Sunday with a full set of scrimmages with teams from Canada and Ireland. Those scrimmages will continue today as well. The weekend was important for the Women Eagles as they get set for the stretch run on the Women's Sevens Series and Olympic qualification. We talked with head coach Ric Suggitt to get his thoughts on the scrimmages.
TIAR: How do you think the day went for your team?
Ric Suggitt: We did not get the weather we wanted for our guests but all in all it was a great day for 7’s. We played a total of eight games with our two teams. All three national teams divided our squads into two teams and the players battled it out from 10:00am to 4:30pm. We attempted to simulate as much of a WSWS game day as possible and then add a fourth game for bonus on the end. Our rationale is that all of our players need to play. Even though we want to win these games we are also looking at attempting some tactics and strategies for the series.
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TIAR: There is quite a long gap between competitions for the women in comparison to the men. How critical is a mini-tournament like this in your preparation for the next round?
RS: You hit the nail bang on. We have a great facility in Chula Vista and are very open to inviting national teams to come and train/play here. Not only is it a long break between tournaments there is nothing better then these competitions to help us prepare for the WSWS. We have developed a excellent working relationship with Canada and Ireland and we are excited to meet their challenge. We also have Russia and Brazil coming to train/play with us before Atlanta and Langford. On the series we play in a really close environment so you get to know some of the staff really well. These connections are vital to our international growth. We need more of these opportunities but we must also be smart of where we place them in the calendar. We have a six month competitive season and more is not always better.
TIAR: Which players do you think did well?
RS: Well, I do not like to single out specific players, we play a team game and you are not successful unless each player is playing extremely well. These games were really important for the growth of our newer players like Melissa Fowler, Alev Kelter and Lorrie Clifford. They can make errors here and we then have time to repair them before the next tournament.
TIAR: Are their plans to organize any similar tournaments in the future?
RS: Yes, please see above, we will continue to work on getting competition. We have a great facility and the weather sure helps. The teams that live in the northern hemisphere sure like to train at the OTC.
TIAR: What is going to be the key for your team as the season progresses?
RS: We need to stay healthy. We need to prepare properly in getting ourselves ready for two days in a row. We seem to have a good day one then inconsistent on day two or the other way around, an average day one then ok on day two. So consistency needs to improve over the next five stops. Our defense needs to improve, we need to make our first up tackles and not panic when we do not turn the ball over on the first tackle or ruck. It’s sounds funny but we need to have more urgency without panicking:) …. composure!