Introduction     How were the Army Sevens developed?     Selecting a Squad
Core Skills     Development Drills     Game related Drills
Defence     First phase & set Plays    
Coaching and managing a Sevens team     Fitness Testing     Conclusion

I wrote this article after I had coached the Army sevens team for three years and in the wake of a semi-final defeat in the Middlesex Sevens to the Bradford Bulls. This defeat was the catalyst for new ideas and thoughts that I will touch upon later in the article.

I will also discuss the ongoing argument about whether sevens really is a development tool for the full sided game, especially in the light of the recent announcement of the England elite squad which sees a number of notable absentees from the small side game.

Let me first of all dispel the myth that the team and support staff spends all their time dedicated to rugby. Nothing could be further from the truth and all have full time army jobs. An example of this is that for our up and coming series of tournament five players will be being flown out of Bosnia the day prior to flying off for a tournament in the Far East. One other misnomer, not appreciated by many, is that although all the members of the squad are of course paid as servants of the crown no other public money is used to support the sevens team. Just like our civilian counterparts it is only because of the generosity of our sponsor and winnings that we receive that we are able compete in tournaments around the world.

So how did the team come about and how has it developed and blossomed? Everybody will be aware that the team is in the main is made up of Fijians. The story as to why we have recruited Fijian soldiers into the British Army is for another day but recruit them we have and they are soldiers of the crown and have every right to wear the red shirt of the Army rugby team. I must mention at this point that the two regular British soldiers in the team have had the opportunity through the team to expose their skills and both have represented England in IRB tournaments. In addition three of the Fijians have also been involved with Fiji in IRB tournaments.

The Army has a long history of sevens at club level and annually holds a major tournament culminating in a finals day in Aldershot. The competition used to be the largest sevens competition in the world and still attracts over 80 teams. Whilst watching this tournament some 3 years ago, looking for new talent for the senior full sided game, it quickly became apparent that there was some very special and exciting talent on view. I also discovered that this talent was playing in sevens tournament for a number of guest teams.

The opportunity existed for this talent to be harnessed and play as the Army. Roger Thompson, Secretary of the ARU, and now the sevens team manager and myself developed a vision, drew up a strategy and implemented a plan. We were helped tremendously in our early days by being asked to play England on number of occasions to help them prepare for IRB tournaments. This exposure led to our first invite to Middlesex sevens and an appearance in the Plate final losing out to London Irish. The following season saw the plans laid coming to fruition, culminating in that great day at Twickenham when the team won the Middlesex Sevens; and as the saying goes the rest is history.

The majority of tournaments now adopt IRB rules and a squad will consist of 12 players of which 10 are nominated for each game. Having 12 players gives lots of flexibility in selection but unless managed correctly can lead to players not playing themselves in to a tournament and players being underused in tournaments. Different coaches obviously have different approaches and it is trial and error with a particular bunch of players and the different make up of each player and what motivates an individual that the correct balance is found.

For a one-day tournament experience has shown that it is better to start with your best 7, secure a result, and then rotate replacements through. One must never forget that in the later stages of tournament fresh legs are vital. I am very fortunate to have strength in depth and the replacement strategy I adopt does have a great bearing on results. Again experience has shown that be introducing certain players early in the second half of a game can change the face of a game totally. One does have to ensure that in any strategy adopted the opposition must not be allowed to gain an advantage that is not retrievable (Middlesex this year - 2004).

Prerequisites of a sevens player

• Defence - He must be able to defend one-on-one, there is no hiding place in sevens and a missed tackle equals a try.



• Pace - There is no substitute for pace, a sevens player without pace will be found wanting.



• Handling - A sevens player must be able to pass long distance off both hands, be able to take and give a pass whilst flat out without re-adjustment and be able to receive a long hard pass without making adjustment to his stride pattern



• Vision - A player must have vision way beyond that required in the full-sided game, except of course for the key positions and key decision-makers. The awareness of space, how to create it, and more importantly how to exploit it are paramount



• Fitness - An unfit player can not play sevens and I have proved time and time again that the fitness required for sevens is different to that of a player in the full-sided game. I have taken players from the full sided game who have not been found wanting for fitness and they have been found wanting in the sevens environment. I will cover in brief detail later a snapshot of one test imposed on players at regular intervals throughout the season that I have found to be of great benefit.

Individual Skills

It goes without saying that different players will bring different attributes to the team. I cannot however over emphasise that I would wish the whole squad to possess the qualities detailed above. Obviously some members of the squad will be quicker than others but the donkey of the team must be a quick donkey. Different individuals do have to bring different qualities and skills to the team. In a 12-player squad I would be selecting individuals that allowed the following make up of a squad:

• 3 players - out and out gas player.



• 2 players - ball winners at the point of contact, your turnover player, your dog player.



• 2/3 players - playmakers, your steppers, your gain line breakers, and the players who create the space.



• 2 players - ball winners from restarts, both yours and theirs.



• 2/3 players - good all round sevens players, one of who should be a utility player who can play either as a forward or back and makes the ideal replacement in a team of ten.

I have covered drills and training the Army sevens team undertakes whenever we meet; these drills have become core activities to the Army Sevens squad. The drills have been developed over a 3 year period and are continually being reviewed and modified:

• Warm up - A vital component of any rugby session but I can not over emphasise the importance of the warm up when training for sevens as players defiantly fully extend themselves especially in the corps drills. I have no intention of covering warm ups in great detail save to say they do towards the end concentrate on hand eye co-ordination, ball work and defensive practices relevant to sevens.



• Handling - Again nothing new here but massive emphasis is placed on the handling being slick and skills players were taught from a young age are re-introduced and time spent on the handling drills is never wasted. Coaches will say that we do all this at the full side game but I ask do we just go through the motions, do drills just become a drill and not game related practices. Are practices executed at pace, with players running onto the ball from real depth and do players really take pass and straighten the line immediately.

Drill 1 - The Building block

Drill 1 is the building block from which all drills are developed. It must be perfected before moving on so that it is slick and everybody is taking and passing with no adjustment to pace.

Distance between teams is such that Player H hits ball being passed by D at pace. Likewise player I hits ball passed by E at pace. The coach must ensure players rotate position and pass off both hands.

Drill 2 - Introduce a cut/switch.

Once again I can not over emphasise that this practice must be done with purpose and at pace. The timing of the pass is critical. The defender is beaten by the person passing the ball ensuring that he has fixed the defender and the ball receiver takes the ball moving into the space created.

A to B t to C, who takes a line to commit the defender. D cuts late. Other important factors in this drill are than once D has the ball the drill must not die. B and C must have realigned in depth to receive the ball back.

This drill can of course be built upon with the ball going back to B and A then the opposite team complete the drill.

A can cut with B, then gives the ball to the opposite team.

All teams can run the same direction one behind the other and defenders introduced to ensure that the defence is committed and that the cut is executed at the correct time.

This particular drill is vital to a successful sevens team as time and again tries will be scored from attracting a defence out wide and then changing the point of attack.

Drill 3

The drill continues with the ball being transferred to the team at the opposite end of the grid who execute the same movement.

Miss 1 back inside (A to C to B)
Miss 1 back inside (B to C to D)
Now comes decision time and the practice at this stage is game related to sevens.
C can hit B short, long, miss B and give A who can stay wide or come short.
B can loop A, the permutations are numerous and this of course it develops the players decision making ability.

This drill can be further developed by having only having a team of 4 who execute the movement until the decision making point then the coach introduces defensive players to further enhance the decision making ability of the attacking players. This of course also develops and improves defensive capabilities and decision making in defence.

Coaches will of course develop these drills and introduce more complex ones as their team develops.

It is important to continually practice the core handling skills detailed but of course these skills must be put into game related situations. There are numerous drills that one can employ and I will detail just two both of which can be further developed. After Twickenham this year I have already developed both drills to enable a game plan to be changed during the course of a game and I will highlight this after describing each drill

Drill 1 - Pass, Follow, and Support

The key in this drill is that when a player has passed the ball he must follow the ball to allow him to support the ball carrier from depth.

Coaches will find at first find that the players tend not to progress down the pitch. The ball receiver must make ground, pass and then take an arc so that he drops in behind the ball receiver and can support if the receiver takes contact.

The aim of this game related drill, and when coaches use it they will quickly see, is to produce another attacking line in depth. This line is constantly being formed behind the first line of attack. In effect what you will get, if the ball goes down the line is:

This is all well and good but the development from this is of course that the coach conditions one of the receivers to take imaginary contact. The player following the ball is then first into support and secures the ball; the drill then continues.

A further development I have now introduced is that defences have to be fixed, committed and interested at sevens or you have too many floating play who very quickly get in you attacking line. To further develop the drill short runners should be fed off of the contact situation, created by the coach, to make the defence honest and then players must play with their heads up.

This drill once again is further developed by the introduction of contact shields and finally full on defence with of course conditioned opposition.

Drill 2 - The Pull Out

Many sevens players feel they must have constantly have a go at the opposition. They invariably become isolated and turn ball over. If players are always looking to take the opposition on defences are never stretched and do not become disorganised.

This drill is designed to let players have a look what is in front of them and if nothing is on to offer options to continue the attack and keep possession of the ball. It also hammers home the point to players of the ability and need to pass the ball along the line several times and making use of the full width of the pitch.

The same principles are adopted as for drill 1. When the ball reaches the extremity the flank player has a look to see what is on. If nothing is on then the attacker attracts the defender but holds his ground if there is a defensive wall in front of him. His team then gives him two options:

1. To pull out and give the ball to the player in depth support



2. Hit a runner coming short

Vision and decision making come into play at this point in time.

A major failing I have found with teams is that there lack of patience in keeping hold of the ball and the their inability to move it from one flank to the other; this is an excellent practice to develop this skill. Again experience has shown that a well-disciplined defence will stand off this game pattern when they read it and gaps may not appear. Again I have developed this drill and condition contact. The team knows when somebody is going to have a go commit the defence that is standing off. Creating contact, making use of short runners and keeping the ball alive in contact overcome the stand off defence and condition a contact situation initiate a tight, more direct game. As I said the ability for a team to change the game pattern within the game.

In summary stretch the defence to extremities get them well spread then have a go ensuring support is always available.

Again I have developed this drill to involve full on contact to ensure correct lines are being run and the decision making process is being continually developed.

Defence at sevens is a separate topic and article in itself. Different coaches have different views and those who study the game of sevens will have seen England develop a system that suits them. They attract an attacker down what is in affect a blind alley seal him off then press across the pitch towards the touch line to close down any attacking options:

It has perhaps now become apparent why we do the pull out drill. It is also interesting to examine how New Zealand have overcome this defence by either a kick of attracting the 3/4 defenders and then getting the ball over them to their attackers who then have men over.

Other teams play a sliding defence; most teams employ a sweeper and most teams press hard and a very aggressively when in the opponents 22. As I said defence is for another day except for one major point, again learnt of our rugby league counterparts. Nothing breaks down a good defence more than the release of the ball in contact to a support player coming from depth. If I take nothing else from this years sevens season it is that players must have the ability to stand big in the tackle, be able to off load the ball to a support player coming form depth and at pace. More importantly it is paramount for the player receiving the ball to also have the same ability; it therefore follows that there must be a continually supply of players in support.

Again the subject for an in depth article but I would ask you to consider. How many lineouts do you have in a sevens tournament? Not many; do not get bogged down in this area. Scrums are vital and provide an ideal attacking platform; they must be practised. Consider this, if you can dictate this area you can take 4 opponents out of the game thereby creating masses of space for three talented attacking players of you team to explore.

Set plays do produce scores, as do penalty moves. Moves off first phase, designed to score, should be developed and practised as a component part of every session.

I have no intention of going into great depth but thought a few points picked up over the past few seasons may stimulate thought and be developed.

As we say in the Army, Preparation and Planning prevent 'P*** Poor Performance', so what went wrong at Twickenham I hear you ask?

I find coaching a sevens team, and particular the tournament itself, not only stimulating and immensely satisfying, but also highly exciting and emotionally draining. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that sevens coaching greatly enhance a coach's ability for the full-sided game. Your decision making has to be slick and decisive, one mistake can, and does cost games. You do not have the luxury of 80 minutes to decide if you are going to make a replacement, your instant decision can turn a game. You do not have week to consider your motivational speech in the dressing room; you will be called upon to make 12 in a day. You do not have video analysis after each game but have to have the vision to assimilate what has happened in 14 minutes and communicate this to your players. You have to select teams in between games and just like the full-sided games soothe the bruised egos of the star you have just dropped. All this can and does happen in the spaces 40 minutes. Of course it is taxing but the buzz one gets is hard to replicate anywhere else in rugby.

Planning starts early on the day of a tournament when all payers are weighed prior to breakfast to get their base weight. Weights are then monitored before and after games and any weight lose is replaced by fluid, 1kg = 1 ltr of fluid. Different players have different food needs but the normal diet of bananas, rice cakes and of course the inevitable jaffa cake is always available between game, as are re-hydration and energy drinks.

Recovery between games is vital time management and has to be top draw. Every coach will do it his way regarding team talk, warm up, half time, replacements, warm down and debrief. We have developed a rigid, set routine and put great emphasis on the player's recovery in-between games. The recovery process involves our now famous travelling wheely bin. After each game the team work in pair and we have a large wheely bin full of ice/water. Players alternate between 2 minutes in the bin and 2 minutes in a warm shower. We try and do this process 3 times depending on time available between games. I will not go into the proven/non-proven benefits of this practice save to say it has, with the Army sevens squad, produced fresh legs in numerous finals.

Pre-game warm ups tend to degenerate throughout a tournament and I have found that all players will want to stretch but spend little time on their feet. It is the quality of the ball work and not the quantity in the later stages of tournament that is important in the warm up. I always try to leave my players with a last thought on defence and a defensive drill as defence wins tournaments.

I started this article by emphasising that the Army Sevens team is made up of professional soldiers. It may surprise some that fitness is a major issue for me.

As we all know Fitness testing is widely used as a means to assess physical performance in all sports and the army rugby sevens squad is no different in this respect. Optimal physical fitness is task specific and requires the development of the components of fitness particular to the activity involved. Fitness training and testing for the army rugby team is therefore based on a delicate balancing act between applying sound theoretical rationale behind quality rugby related fitness and the practical limitations of amateur rugby players with professional military commitments. The combat fitness requirement of rugby playing soldiers to fulfil daily routine is almost in direct contrast to that required to play sevens rugby against elite players both home and abroad on the sevens circuit. I am sure few would argue the fitness required to patrol the streets of Northern Ireland or Bosnia is the same as the explosive, multi variant properties required for up to six games of sevens in one day.

That said, the army sevens squad maintains high levels of personal fitness and testing takes place at periodic intervals during the season. The importance of testing is well known and if based on standardised procedures the information gained is objective and useable. Whilst experience and attention to detail have developed my ability to observe key areas of individual performance during training, the evidence they provide is subjective and always leaves the door open for players to make excuses for poor performance (sometimes justified).

The main test used with the sevens squad is a field test adapted from a test given to NEC Harlequins players by Paul Pook (Fitness Conditioner at NEC Harlequins) and is designed for the sevens squad to test agility and speed endurance in sevens related movement whilst encouraging the player to concentration whilst under pressure and practise self discipline when physically fatigued.

The course is two identical routes conveniently called the left course and the right course. Players work in pairs, whilst one player is working the other is resting. The course is run once starting with the left course, followed by three times through, right course, left course then right course and finally a final effort of twice, once on each course. Player's timings start on a signal and finish when three passes have been accurately executed and the player runs passed the finish line. The courses and measurements are as follows:

Agility Run

Route

Player sprints from start (A) to (B) rounds the cone and runs backwards to (C) forms a defensive posture and side steps to (D) turns and runs to (E) rounds the cone and sprints to (F) and makes a tackle ( Feet must leave the floor). Player gets up, runs to G round the cone to H were three passes are made to a support team mate standing on start / finish line. Players are to complete the course in as quickly as possible, concentration on the correct route with correct running and tackling technique and finish with accurate passes.

Distances around route are:

1. a to g = 10m
2. a to e = 15m
3. a to d = 20m
4. a to b = 25m
5. b to c = 5m
6. g to h = 5m
7. d to e = 5m
8. e to f = 10m
9. e to g = 5m
10. g to ball one = 3m +1m+1m

Currently average times for the test are:
       Squad average time for one route = 23.41
       Squad average time for two routes = 1.20.41
       Squad average time for three routes = 55.2
       Individual fastest time for one route = 21.03
       Individual fastest time for two routes = 1.17.87
       Individual fastest time for three routes = 52.23

Fitness test scores for the army sevens squad are used for many reasons particularly as a motivation tool both during training sessions and when players are back with their Regiments as in the absence of daily contact, the results serve to motivate both the established squad members and those younger players pressing to make future squads. They also act as recovery markers for players on rehabilitation from injury and fitness markers for new players joining the squad.

I feel I have only touched the surface of a subject I have developed a passion for. I did say I would discuss the ongoing argument is, or is not, sevens a development tool for the full sided game. My experience has shown that as with anything one does in life different individuals react in different ways. There is no doubt players must learn skills from sevens that can be used in the full sided game. Sevens is though a different game and does use different skills and requires different attributes.

I do find at times that sevens players find difficulty switching from sevens to the full sided game. I think if a player leaves the sevens environment, taking with him what he has learnt, and concentrates fully on the full-sided game then the sevens experience will undoubtedly help. Likewise a player coming from the full-sided game to sevens takes time to adjust.

So in essence there are of course benefits to playing sevens for the full sided game but as a development tool I feel a player should concentrate on sevens, develop his handling and defence abilities and then transfer this to the full sided game. Mixing and matching on a regular basis is suited to only the highly talented, mentally adept, individual. There is no doubting though that being involved in major sevens tournaments develops a players metal attitude, prepares him for the big stage, installs the ethos of winning and also of course the despair of losing, something vital to winners.

I hoped the article has stimulated some thought and debate in the far-flung corners of the sevens globe. I would end by, saying beware the Bulls we will return!

E-mail Andy Hickling with your comments.

For the record the Army Sevens Team over the last 27 months has competed in a total of 28 tournaments

         Their record is:

            Won - 21 tournaments
            Losing finalists - 2 times
            Losing semi-finalists - 3 times
            Plate winners - 1 time
            Plate final runners up - 1 time

         A total of some 131 games of sevens.