Newly-appointed technical director of the National Rugby Sevens team, Spencer Robinson, is pleased with the progress the team has made in preparing for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series in Las Vegas, United States.
The national team is currently in intense training with the technical director and will be departing Guyana for Las Vegas on Tuesday for the tournament, which will be held on February 12 and 13.
“I’m impressed with how quickly we are moving forward,” Robinson told Stabroek Sport during a training session at theProvidence National Stadium yesterday.
Robinson’s arrival in Guyana from his home country, Canada, was delayed a few days owing to snowstorms. But he was immediately on the ball following his arrival on Friday morning, trying to fit in as much training as possible with the team, ahead of their departure. Robinson headed straight for the National Park where the team was practicing and familiarized himself with all the players before getting into his training with the team.
“Last night [Friday night] we had a meeting and a video session to really lay down the principles of what we are trying to achieve, how we’re going to operate as a team and bring everyone on the same page and it was good and today [yesterday] we are starting to see the fruits of it,” Robinson said as he explained what had been done since his arrival.
Robinson also acknowledged the players who haven’t made the national team that will be representing Guyana at IRB Series, stating that they have been very helpful with the team’s preparation.
“It’s really helpful to have those guys who aren’t travelling come out to take the opportunity to learn, but also to help the team out to prepare,” he said.
In terms of the team’s fitness, Robinson explained that he hasn’t been able to determine that since he only recently started working with the players. However, he said he will be observing the team’s fitness level.
“There’s not much you can do about fitness at this stage, but you can do something about skills, tactics and defensive alignment and those are the things we are concentrating on.”
He explained that defence will be a “consistent theme” throughout the team’s practice sessions leading up to the tournament, because according to the seasoned rugby coach, “defence is the hardest part of the game.
“Defence will be a theme that runs through everything we do.”
The team will go up against world class rugby teams in the upcoming tournament, and Robinson stated that he expects them to play each game at their best.
“What I expect is that these players do not resign themselves to any thought of defeat until the final whistle. I expect that for 14 minutes, whatever country they are playing against they will be the seven guys representing Guyana and they will represent Guyana to the fullest of their ability,” he said.
“What I expect is that these guys are going to go a long way in terms of representing Guyana solidly.”
