The British Army have well and truly breathed new life into this UK National Sevens Series following their Manchester win. The overall title to be decided down by the beach at the concluding round in Newquay (July 17).

The Army don’t enjoy losing. It particularly stings them. The West Country defeat to table toppers Samurai stung them pretty bad by all accounts. At Manchester they had that steely determined look in their eyes and there was a certain inevitably in my book about that win, even when they fell behind to Samurai in the final.

Samurai’s tight semi against the Wailers seemed to take the stuffing out of them somewhat and the Army pounced on that in their final showdown.

So we have a two horse race. 

Effectively the Army must win at Newquay to have a shot. If Samurai lose in the semi-finals and the Army are victorious this would leave the pair level on points adding a new twist. Then what about the race for third and fourth place to secure the Middlesex Sevens spot? The Gilbert Pups officially entered that race competing with the Wailers, Marauders, and Smurfs.

Fellow blogumnist Jon Bolter will digress further on that this week in his hard hitting Power Rankings. I’m sure you can’t wait for that.

Comparisons

The scenario for the top two reminds me of the situation facing Samoa and New Zealand as they headed into the final leg of the 09/10 IRB Sevens World Series at the end of May.

Samoa, like Samurai, just needed to make the final to confirm an overall win. They were pushed all the way in a 27 minute extra-time semi-final against England eventually coming through to confirm themselves as champions. Some similar high drama like that down in Cornwell would go down a treat.

It’s not the only similarities I’ve noticed between the international and invitational stages.

Yes, from the look of things it’s appears Samurai and the Army have dominated. But don’t forget this is a brand new Series. If you look at the early years of the IRB Sevens circuit then it was traditionally a two horse race between New Zealand and Fiji. This only changed a few years ago where we now have a host of nations who can win.

In time this will be the case on the National Series and we’re not actually that far off. The Wailers are desperately close to matching the top two with the Marauders not that far off either.

The Pups, Smurfs and Apache have all had their opportunities against the leading pair but have just lacked a bit of composure at times.

It’s those small margins again which prove decisive in competitive rugby sevens. For many of the National Series teams in year bygone they might have been able to miss the odd tackle here and there or make a handling error, confident in the knowledge that their team would have enough firepower to recover.

But the smallest of errors have been punished at RugbyRocks, West Country, and Manchester highlighted by the close nature of the semi-finals and finals.

Mentally draining

I’ve had conversations with various coaches and players on the Series, who also possesses IRB Sevens experience, as there are certain differences too.

With international sevens nearly always taking place over a whole weekend, players will only have a maximum of three matches a day.

For a team going the distance on the National Series you might have to play five matches with little rest in-between. Energy conservation is key, so the warm-up in the knockouts can be quite light in intensity compared to some of methods employed by nations on the IRB circuit.

The likes of Samoa, South Africa and England can try and peak at the right stages over weekend with analysis of opponents after Pool play. But the invitational circuit requires teams to respond and react quickly to technical adjustments.

Mentally it can also be fatiguing and challenging for players to wind down and rest one minute and then be completely focused and alert relatively soon after. No-one ever said elite level sevens was easy!

Open enthusiasm

I’ve been lucky enough to do some reporting for the National Series show that is currently being aired by Sky Sports. Part of this involves covering the Men’s Open events that accompany each leg. This is the tier or division unofficially below the Nationals..

Each of these tourneys have been fiercely competitive with some seriously talented players and squads partaking. Manchester provided another epic with the old established outfit Mel’s Exiles beaten in the last play by new teenagers on the block, the North Wales Exiles.

The main National Series has created a genuine buzz amongst all these teams who are now courting invitations and registering genuine interest in joining the UK’s elite. This enthusiasm is only a positive with this new initiative incentivising sevens teams. The North Wales boy’s jubilant celebrationsis was testimony to that!

This kind of attitude and love for the game can only increase standards and raise awareness for the sport in the UK. Which is of course one of the major outcomes an initiative like the National Series was hoped would generate. Bring on the sand, salty air, and the enriching nightlife that the Newquay Surf Sevens will bring! Can’t wait folks.