Coral Coast Worth the Trip: Friday
Coral Coast Worth the Trip: Friday
The USA Falcons ended up 1-4 at the Coral Coast 7s, but there's no head-hanging in the USA men's 7s program.
In all over the games, including their last one, a 14-12 loss in the Bowl semifinals, were competitive, and we would say three of the four losses were very close, with one being competitive but not quite "close."
USA Men's 7s Head Coach Mike Friday, who was with the team but left the day-to-day coaching to Zack Test and JK Anderson, was quite happy with how it all went down. The trip to Fiji was supposed to be educational. Almost the entire Falcons team is just out of college and the vast majority of them played for the U23s in the RugbyTown 7s.
"I am very happy with the trip," Friday told GRR. "When you go the home of 7s it’s all about the learnings, both in terms of the style of play you have to contend with as well as dealing with the extreme climate."
It was very hot and humid and Friday is correct, players need to learn that not every venue has San Diego weather.
"It is very unwise to focus just on results, especially in Fiji with developmental players," added Friday. "It was also a very good learning experience for Zack and JK having to adapt adjust in terms of playing these teams whilst supporting and mentoring the players navigating the challenges. [It was] fantastic for both of them as they move forward on their individual coaching journeys. The opportunity to play against the local village teams is a unique learning experience—this is the hardest place to come and play in the world but the best place to come and learn.”
As we mentioned above, the games were quite close and Friday noticed that, too.
"If we just focus on results it was not great, winning one game from five, but if we look deeper it is important to note that we lost two of those four games by a score and we were in possession to win those games but did not take the moments," Friday explained. "In the other two we again were in the games but our inexperience sucked us into trying to play the free-flowing Fiji game as opposed to our more structured game. We were only ever going to come second in that. The single biggest lesson for the boys is that you have to respect possession and the basic skills of the game and failure to execute these, even in extreme conditions, is the difference."
What this all showed was what the future SVNS World Series players will face when they graduate to the full USA team.
Friday said the potential was evident. Darrell Williams was fast and worked hard on both sides of the ball—but like a lot of fast guys he needs to work on being able to execute long runs one after another. Peter Sio showed his ability to break open a game, and he just needs time to learn the ins and outs of decision-making at this level. Players such as Michael Hand and Ulu Niutupuivaha showed moments of what they are capable of. Other players also showed that and just need to be more consistent.
A couple of more experienced players were on the trip, too. Adam Channel played quite well and showed his versatility, playing as a forward and as a back—he saw what he can do as a finisher. Maceo Brown had been out a year due to an Achilles tendon injury and his completing the tournament was a big win.
"He continues to get more game time and game fit in this tough climate, so it was another step along the way for him to put himself in a position to compete at Vancouver and LA," said Friday.
So that's the context. These players, for the most part, had to play these games to feel viscerally what the SVNS Series is like. Fiji, where there are many, many teams that play at international level, is an excellent place to go to do it.