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USA Sevens Head Coach Mike Friday believes there is a gap in the market for RugbyX after inaugural tournament in London last week

After being approved by World Rugby earlier this year, RugbyX made its debut at the O2 arena last week. Masterminded by Fiji’s former gold medal-winning sevens coach Ben Ryan, this new smaller 5-a-side, full-contact version of rugby went down a treat.

Fans at the O2 were treated to two sessions of high energy, high intensity and physically exerting rugby which had everything from big hits to tries and controversy.

It was Argentina who were crowned the men’s champions in the inaugural competition after defeating Ireland 25-15 in the final.  A hat-trick from Emma Uren in the women’s final helped England write themselves a slice of history after defeating a strong USA side in a tense one on one shoot-out to decide the champion.

Whilst RugbyX certainly had some teething problems at its first event, coaches and players alike believe that its format has a future in the sphere of world rugby.

Action from Rugby X at the O2 Arena, London Picture by Stella Pictures/@stellapicsltd 07813022858
29/10/2019

Speaking to the Sports Gazette following the USA’s elimination from the tournament, head coach Mike Friday noted the format offers something different to a typical game of sevens.

“I think that there’s a gap in the market for this sort of razzmatazz and fast-moving part of the game. It will inspire the younger generation and also create a really fun exciting event which corporately would appeal to the cities as well,” Friday explained.

“It’s never going to compete with sevens or 15’s but could it sit as a spectacle. I liken it to the Masters Football that they do indoors.

“I think there’s a lot of synergies to what you see here with the darts, where you create an event and then it’s all about how you attract the stars to come and how you convince coaches to release their players to participate.”

The small-sided nature of RugbyX enables players to showcase and develop skills that aren’t often utilised when playing on a full-sized pitch on the sevens circuit or in rugby union. This was one aspect of RugbyX that Friday enjoyed.

“It gives individuals opportunities to try new things, one on ones, develop, explore and hone in on their existing skills. Especially for our boys who have got to learn how to kick and chip for themselves, there’s an opportunity for learning here.

“We came into this and we were like let’s just explore and find out. Let’s just see where it brings us out. I said to the boys if you want to kick pass to yourself or kick into space you need to learn that skill either on the run or in limited space. There are little bits and pieces for players, and this is an opportunity under the spotlight,” said Friday.

Action from Rugby X at the O2 Arena, Londo/ Picture by Stella Pictures/@stellapicsltd 07813022858 29/10/2019

Despite their domination on the sevens circuit, the USA were unable to replicate that success on the smaller, narrower and more compact pitch. Looking forward to the future, the head coach hinted at tactical changes he would implement to make his side more competitive.

“I would look at bringing taller, longer, rangier players that can play through the contact area, like Ireland’s number four [Cormac Izuchukwu]. When you look at the Fijian boys and also the French boys, they’re very long-limbed and they’re causing problems,” said Friday.

“It’s more suited to that sort of player, it’s narrower than you think so it doesn’t actually suit the racehorses. You haven’t really seen a lot of space and time for the likes of Perry Baker, Dan Norton and Carlin Isles. There’s not that type of space out there.

“Interestingly enough when Danny Barrett put the ball in at 9 from the scrum, no one was interested in him picking around the corner five yards out. They are the tactical nuances that you could do if you were to seriously look at how you were going to unpick this game.”

Whilst Friday like others used RugbyX as part of their pre-season training for the sevens series, it is clear that there is a future for this type of rugby. Whether that is in this form or a slight adaptation is yet to be seen but the future looks bright for Ryan’s latest project.

Author

  • Callum Room

    Callum Room, 22, is a reporter for the Sports Gazette and a recent history graduate from the University of Leicester. Callum is a fan of many sports, especially football, rugby, tennis and cricket. He is a huge Liverpool supporter and followed them all the way to Madrid last summer. The twenty-two-year-old has played sports all his life, representing his university rugby side as well as competing nationally as a swimmer whilst growing up. He gained his experience writing for the Fansided network Playingfor90 and during an internship with 90min where his football articles were viewed almost one million times. With aspirations to work as a Sports Journalist, Callum is now undertaking a Masters in Sports Journalism at St Mary’s University Twickenham. Follow him on Twitter @CallumRSport.