Las Vegas
Las Vegas has to be one of the most unique destinations on the circuit. A sensual overload awash with bright lights and extravagant buildings bordering on the ridiculous, it feels like you have just arrived on another planet. One glimpse of the strip, especially at night, and it’s hard not to be impressed by the visual spectacle which is America’s most dynamic city.
We arrived on the Sunday afternoon and with the tournament starting on the Friday we had five days to adapt to the time zone, fine tune our preparation and maintain our physical condition. After a 3am start and a day full of travelling, Sunday evening was a battle to stay awake and fight off the jet lag. The training week consisted of two gym sessions, multiple meetings and several rugby sessions. One of them being against the Australian team containing Quade Cooper, who took the meaning of grab to a new level by leg chopping his want-to-be lookalike Luke Treharne. We also suffered a setback with motormouth North Walian Morgan Williams, who was in line to make his debut, breaking his hand. Fortunately we travelled with a squad of 13 players, meaning we wouldn’t find ourselves a player short come the weekend.
The format of 7s World Series means that all 16 teams stay and eat in the same hotel. With the hotel having to cater for close to 300 players and staff the meals are served buffet style three times a day, each having a three-hour slot. This prevents serious overcrowding and allows all 16 teams to eat according to their individual schedules. The venue hosting us for duration of our stay in Vegas was the Monte Carlo, which was situated at the bottom end of the strip. I was lucky enough to be rooming with 7s World cup winner Tom Isaacs or ‘Side-dish’ as he is known by some.
With Sevens gaining Olympic status the lure of winning a Gold medal in Rio has attracted some of the best and high profile 15’s players into the shortened form of the game. Not only has this helped to strengthen the game but it has brought with it media attention widening the game’s popularity around the world. For me, seeing such global rugby icons as Sonny Bill Williams, Liam Messam, Quade Cooper and Bryan Habana sat amongst their respective teams during meal times was a rather surreal experience.
An additional benefit of playing on the circuit is the chance to see and explore what the host city has to offer. Although training, meetings and meal times usually dictate the days planning, evenings are usually free and act as players down time. And with Vegas coming to life at night this wasn’t exactly a bad thing. After visiting Vegas in the summer, nostalgia hit Kristian Phillips reverted back to his alter ego ‘Huw Evans’ (Ed: WRU photographer to the uninitiated) and taking photos of every hotel we passed.
Amongst wandering the strip and the multitude of hotels, we managed to take a team trip up the Stratosphere and take a ride on the New York rollercoaster and the Linq high roller, Vegas’ answer to the London eye. The highlight of the week though had to be our adopted middle school visit. Not sure what to expect, I was blown away by the effort that the school had gone to, with an eclectic mix of performances including a sensational tribute video which put our analyst Adam Fuges’ work to shame. The whole squad left there astonished and it was an experience we won’t forget.
Tournament
Held in the 35,000 seater Sam Boyd Stadium, the tournament is held over three days rather than the usual two, kicking off on Friday night. Not only was this my first experience of a 3-day tournament but it was my first on an artificial surface. Despite spending the entirety of our two week camp training on artificial surface with little issue, I knew how unrelenting and strenuous it can be on the body. Plastering the limbs in vaseline would definitely become a pre-match priority.
Game 1 was against hosts USA who were fired up for their home tournament. We went down 19-12 but on another day it could have been a different result. South Africa was up next and after taking an early lead and seemingly in control we were eventually humbled 33-5. Although we lost it was a huge privilege for me, albeit briefly, to play against Bryan Habana, my rugby hero growing up. On day 2 we changed our fortunes around and we beat Canada in our final group game, then Portugal in the Bowl semi-final. After limited minutes on day one it was nice to contribute to the team with a start and a meat pie (try).
The final day started with a Bowl semi-final against Scotland, a team who had beaten us at this stage twice already this season. With the result looking like it was going to be the same old story, the squad dug deep and we came from behind with Kristian Phillips aka ‘Stretch McGregor’ scoring in the last play.
Confidence and team spirit high, we faced a French team who were down to nine men for the final. A fact which Kristian kindly reminded us several times during the warm up. A comfortable 28-14 victory claimed us the Bowl and more importantly ensured a top eight seed in the pool draw for Vancouver. We watched a very windy final from the stands where Fiji, a week on after their country had been devastated by Cyclone Winston, stage a fantastic comeback to beat Australia.
Because each stadium has to host 16 teams there are rarely enough changing rooms for each to have their own. The compromise usually means sharing a changing room with another team or splitting the changing room up into segments. This was the case in Las Vegas with the large American football style changing rooms at the stadium being separated by a thin black cloth. This gave an insight into some of the other teams pre-match rituals. The most unique of which was Samoa, who had a pre warm up group dance which was marvellous. I would also describe some of Japan’s pre-game song choices as interesting, with such artists as Miley Cyrus and Aqua being played!
Vancouver
After a 7am flight alongside the French and Kenya teams, we arrived into rainy Vancouver to be greeted by a Canadian Aboriginal family who performed a traditional song and dance from their history. It was a very unique welcome but it was certainly appreciated as it was great to be met with such positivity and friendliness after an early flight.
Our hotel for the week was the Pinnacle Hotel located in the Coal Harbour neighbourhood of downtown Vancouver. Located just off the harbour, it had tremendous picturesque views of the cascading North Shore Mountains. Unlike previous tournaments the 16 teams were divided in half between two hotels giving it a more relaxed feel and easing congestion around meal times.
With Vancouver consistently ranked as one of the world’s most liveable cities, it was easy to see why. The vibrant cosmopolitan city seemed to have something for everyone, whether it was shopping and eating within the city districts or exploring its surrounding natural beauty. Vancouver is also a very multicultural city and is renowned for its fantastic sushi. Having a strong love for Japanese cuisine I took full advantage visiting one restaurant five times. Alongside the people being friendly, there seemed to be strong attitude towards healthy living, especially crossfit, much to the delight our very own ‘Wod-master’ Adam Fuge (Ed: the team’s analyst)
The only downside was the weather, Vancouver is Canada’s third most rainy city with over 161 rainy days per year. It did feel like being back in South Wales but it would have been lovely to see the city under some sunshine.
The training load during the second week is usually one of lower volume. Not only has all the hard work been cashed into the bank in previous weeks training but the shear load of a tournament means players need the adequate recovery in preparation for the second tournament. Field training included the necessary team and individual work-ons identified from Las Vegas.
This was alongside adapting game plans for new opposition in the form of Australia, Canada and Russia. One major issue that faced the squad was the high volume of cuts and grazes sustained at the hands of the artificial surface in Las Vegas. With some players worse than others it was an issue which I feel will need to be addressed for future tournaments to protect player welfare. However with confidence still high from the success in Vegas preparation ran smoothly with the squad training effectively and being very vigilant with their recovery protocols.
Because of our success in Vegas and the lower volume of sessions we had plenty of downtime to explore Vancouver. The squad took a day trip to Capilano Suspension Bridge, which at 460-ft long at 230ft high tested a few of the players (Jordan Williams) fear for heights!
The team also had their first experience of an Ice hockey game watching the Vancouver Canucks. Even though the game was rather uneventful and we didn’t get to see one fight, I now count myself a fan. The highlight for many was a visit to an Under Armour outlet store which included 55% discount off many of the items. With some players adopting a supermarket sweep style shopping approach I was half expecting Dale Winton to pop out!
Tournament
Having been seeded second in the Las Vegas draw we were handed a competitive but favourable pool group which gave us a strong chance of achieving our first top 8 finish of the season.
Game one was against Canada. Competing in their inaugural home tournament in front of 30,000 fans we knew that they would start strong and feed off the atmosphere. After initially going two tries down the game was evenly poised at 19-19 with both teams pushing for the win. With the clock dead, a stupendous offload from Ethan Davies sent me under the posts to break Canadian hearts. To add insult to injury I then brought the long awaited ‘Knightfever’ celebration out of the locker which went down well on social media!
We followed this up with our most clinical performance of the season against Russia, winning 52-0. However it came at a cost for me, after stressing the bone I fractured in Cape Town it meant my tournament was over!
To make things worse, Canada had beaten Australia, blowing the group wide open and meaning we needed a result from our final match in order to guarantee qualification into the top half of the draw. Unfortunately after conceding an early try and losing our other winger Luke Morgan to injury we succumbed to a heavy defeat, ending six successive wins. The result meant the group was out of our hands and we had to rely on Canada not beating Russia by a margin of 30 points! Fortunately this didn’t happen and we were handed a Cup quarter final draw against South Africa.
Down to nine men on day two we were outclassed by a strong South African side. We were then beaten by USA in the plate semi-final resulting in a joint 7th place finish. There was a bittersweet feeling afterwards, even though we had finished the tournament with three loses, it was our highest placed finish of the season – continuing our progression as a team.
The stadium itself was an incredible venue, usually an American football stadium the closed roof and high definition scoreboard which hovered like a spaceship above the centre of the pitch created a unique setting within the stadium. The artificial turf was also in immaculate condition and was a pleasure to play on.
Even through the stadium was partially opened over the two days the 60,000 fans who turned out created an amazing atmosphere and made the stadium feel as if it was full. Overall I felt the tournament and Vancouver as a venue was a huge success and deserving of its place on the Circuit.
Up next with a short turnaround of less than four weeks are legs 7 & 8 in Hong Kong and Singapore.
