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Latest News
Andy Vilk, head coach of Italy men's sevens
4 min read

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Italy men’s sevens team seeks return to the big stage

The European men's qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 is on the horizon with the prize of four tickets to Cape Town, South Africa at stake in July.

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Thu 19 May, 2022
4 min read
HSBC Canada Women's Sevens 2022
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Black Ferns Sevens renew riveting rivalry with Australia on HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Australia wrapped up the 2022 Series title in Langford, but the Black Ferns Sevens left Canada with plenty to celebrate as they begin a busy period.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 3 May, 2022
4 min read
Madagascar Women's Sevens
3 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: Madagascar latest team to book ticket to Cape Town

Following another intense weekend of qualifying action we now know the identity of 12 women's and 20 men's teams who will compete at RWC Sevens 2022.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Mon 2 May, 2022
3 min read
HSBC Spain Sevens Seville 2022 - Women's
4 min read

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Amee-Leigh Murphy Crowe keen to drive Ireland onto Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

We spoke to the prolific Ireland star about backing up the team’s success in Seville and plotting their path to Cape Town in September.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Tue 26 April, 2022
4 min read
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day Two
5 min read

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Everything you need to know about Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Your guide to RWC Sevens 2022, which will take place in Cape Town between 9-11 September this year.

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022

Fri 8 April, 2022
5 min read
2018 Highlights
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
08:29 mins

Highlights: New Zealand win big in San Francisco

New Zealand retained their Rugby World Cup Sevens title in San Francisco
Mon 23 July, 2018
08:29 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
07:03 mins

Highlights: New Zealand women's win Rugby World Cup Sevens

Check out all the top action as New Zealand win The Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco
Sun 22 July, 2018
07:03 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day Two
06:30 mins

HIGHLIGHTS: Men's semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day two

Men's semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day two of action at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 #RWC7s
Sun 22 July, 2018
06:30 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens San Francisco 2018 - Day One
06:51 mins

Highlights: Men's quarter-finals decided

Men's quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup Sevens decided after incredible first day at AT&T Park
Sat 21 July, 2018
06:51 mins
Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018
06:26 mins

Highlights: Women's semi-finals confirmed at Rugby World Cup Sevens

Championship semi-finals confirmed after thrilling day one of action
Sat 21 July, 2018
06:26 mins
Olympic Games
Sunday 18 July, 2021
5 min read

“Mature, united and ready to go” – Emilie Bydwell on the Women’s Sevens Eagles Olympics mission

USA Rugby’s General Manager for Women’s High Performance talks to World Rugby about her hopes and expectations for Tokyo and about the structures she’s putting in place back home.
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Ten years ago, Emilie Bydwell “took a punt” and packed in a secure job to travel from one coast of the United States to the other to fulfil her ambition of making a living out of rugby.

At that stage in 2011, the Canadian, who’d taken up rugby as a 14-year-old schoolgirl in Montreal, had already been capped by the Women's Eagles and played at a Rugby World Cup, but it was the full-time sevens programme that lured her 3,000 miles away.

“When I first graduated as a Biology Major there weren’t any jobs in rugby, I was a lab technician at Harvard Medical School but I’d always wanted to be a teacher,” she explained.

“In 2011, I decided to move from Boston to San Diego because they were starting a sevens residency programme and Ric Suggitt (the then Women’s Sevens Eagles head coach) was doing some really exciting stuff; it was something everyone wanted to be a part of.

“I wasn’t good enough to be one of the eight people contracted but I figured that they couldn’t train with eight people so I left my job and moved across the country.

“Luckily, I got a job as a teacher out here, which was awesome, and I managed to train with the contracted players and it all worked out in the end.

“It was a bit of a punt but it kind of set me up for the rest of my life out here in San Diego.”

Still based in California, Bydwell landed a job with Serevi Rugby, the company founded by and named after sevens legend and World Rugby Hall of Fame inductee Waisale Serevi, which later became Atavus, as well as playing for her adopted country on the World Series and at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013.

Bydwell may have been born north of the border, but she was now living the American Dream.

After seven years at Atavus, latterly in a director of rugby role, Bydwell was appointed to her present USA Rugby role as General Manager of Women’s High Performance with a job sheet as long as Naya Tapper’s stride.

“It was really interesting taking this job because the job description at first literally covered everything under the sun (in sevens and 15s). Initially, it was about sifting through all of that, trying to learn what a high performance manager is even responsible for and then prioritising what needed to be done to have the most significant performance impact.

“It was about trying to make sure we had very clear, accountable and tangible roadmaps of what we were trying to achieve and making sure the staff – and the revenue – were in place to then execute that.”

A warm welcome from the people of Mimasaka.

The Eagles have landed.#Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/3kK4zQLVLf

— USA Rugby (@USARugby) July 15, 2021

Natural leader

Bydwell’s ability to lead women’s rugby in the USA into a new era had been identified by her fellow Canadian and mentor, Suggitt, while she was still playing.

Now 35 years old and seven years retired, she said: “In 2013, I went to Dubai and only played like three minutes the whole tournament. One day, he pulled me into his office – this was six months before the (Sevens) World Cup – and he said to me, ‘Byds, I want you to be the best water carrier in the world’. I thought that was a really weird thing for him to say but he quickly followed that up by saying he thought I could lead the women’s sevens programme later in my career, and he kind of turned it around by saying I needed to watch the game so critically that when I brought on water, I could provide info that could change the course of the game.”

The value of an honest day’s work and the old adage that ‘the sum of the parts is greater than the whole’ were two of the key messages that Bydwell took from Suggitt once his prophecy became true. The US Women’s Sevens Eagles squad that were 24 hours away from flying to Tokyo, as we spoke, selflessly run their socks off for each other as a result.

“You might want a different job, you might want more minutes, or you might want to play a different position, and that’s fine – that’s ambition and competitive sport. But when it comes down to it in the arena, which is where we are going to be in a couple of weeks with our players, every role is so important, whether you are playing two minutes or 14 minutes, and if you can over achieve in the role, that leads to an authentically strong team,” she said.

“When I took on this job one of the things that I wanted to achieve was to develop a culture that delivers performance – a united and resilient team of women who care as much about this programme winning an Olympic medal as they do about themselves being an Olympian. We knew that if we could get that, we’d be gold medal contenders and are all really excited to be able to board the plane, knowing the work has been done to enable this.”

For the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, the USA had a disrupted build-up with three different head coaches in a nine-month period. In that sense, they overachieved by finishing fifth.

“Despite the challenges faced by the transition in the 2016 Olympic build-up, that tournament gave us a snapshot of what we are capable of. It gave us a very clear indication of what would be required to drive our programme forward to be genuine medal contenders at the Tokyo Games. And everyone, whether they are still with the programme or not, over the last five years has put the work in to get us in this position, where we feel the high performance department has grown up.

“We are mature, united and ready to go.”

What other sport gives you this?

Watch @TeamUSA Rugby Sevens in Tokyo on NBC Sports Networks. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/U8tNszdsnz

— USA Rugby (@USARugby) July 5, 2021

Soaring Eagles

Back home, a tiered academy structure has identified the next generation of Olympians, with players grouped as ‘Hawks’ and ‘Martlets’, depending on age and ability. A wider regional approach will also get into full swing once the Olympics is over as Bydwell works with Women’s Pathway Manager  Martha Daines to build a model of sustainable success in the US.

A Martlet is a mythical bird but for the Eagles in Tokyo, the task is very real – to medal.

Coached by Chris Brown, the Women’s Sevens Eagles are in the same pool as reigning Olympic champions Australia, hosts Japan and China.

“Hopefully, we will have been able to do what we need to do against Japan and China and can go into the Australia game on day two with the handcuffs off,” Bydwell said.

“In 2016, we tied with Australia and only lost 5-0 to New Zealand and that was when we weren’t in the position we are in now.”

People back in the USA had started to take note. “When we showed up for the fifth-place semi-final in Rio, the USA Rugby website had more traffic in 24 hours than it had ever had, and that was us losing a quarter-final so imagine when we win a quarter-final, or a semi-final, let alone bring home a medal. Just imagine the excitement.

“This is a sport that everybody loves, they just don’t know it yet in this country. It is just so exciting to think about.”

While setting the team up for success in Tokyo, Bydwell hasn’t lost sight of the 15s programme and the importance of doing well at Rugby World Cup 2021, which like the Olympics, has been put back a year.

“The goal before this year’s postponement was two medals in one year so I don’t think anybody can sleep on the women’s 15s team either,” she said.

“We have been able to turn COVID into a competitive advantage. We’ve had 20 weeks in assembly since September 2020 until now.

“The only way we have been able to do that was because we made a commitment early to invest in a short-term infrastructure and centralise the players (in Denver).

“They now have the training base, technical skill foundation and a better tactical understanding that they didn’t necessarily have before.

“With that 20 weeks behind them on top of the 10 games we are targeting to play before the tournament kicks off, we think that team is going to do something special at Rugby World Cup 2021.”

Read more: USA sevens star Naya Tapper: We want to bring back Olympic gold >>

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HSBC London Sevens 2022
7 min read

HSBC London Sevens

South Africa and New Zealand back with a bang in London

South Africa and New Zealand bounced back from shock exits in Toulouse by topping their Pools on day one at Twickenham, while in-form Fiji and Samoa did likewise, and Series leaders Argentina were knocked out.

HSBC London Sevens

Sat 28 May, 2022
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HSBC Canada Sevens 2022
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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

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Wed 25 May, 2022
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Alex Davis England Sevens
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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – London

England sevens skipper Davis: “Let’s embrace and enjoy playing at home”

Ahead of this weekend’s action in Twickenham, captain Alex Davis reveals what it’s like to step out in front of a home crowd in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

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Tue 24 May, 2022
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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Toulouse

Fiji and New Zealand the winners after a brilliant HSBC France Sevens

Ireland reach their first ever men’s final as the women’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series comes to an end for 2022 with Australia worthy winners following an outstanding season. Argentina hold a two-point lead over South Africa in the men's Series standings

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Toulouse

Sun 22 May, 2022
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HSBC France Sevens 2022 Men's
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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Toulouse

Big names fall on dramatic day of upsets at HSBC France Sevens in Toulouse

Argentina and Australia were knocked out in the men’s quarter-finals, while Series leaders South Africa and heavyweights New Zealand failed to even make the knockout stages. Australia and New Zealand’s women impressed, while Fiji reached the final four in both events.

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Toulouse

Sat 21 May, 2022
8 min read
HSBC France Sevens 2022 Men's
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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series - Toulouse

Men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series favourites suffer shock defeats on opening day in Toulouse as women’s champions Australia continue fine form

South Africa, Australia and Argentina were all beaten on the opening day of the HSBC France Sevens men’s event, while New Zealand and Australia caught the eye with some big wins in the women’s competition

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series - Toulouse

Fri 20 May, 2022
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Rikki Swannell becomes first females to commentate on men's series
5 min read

Feature

Behind the microphone: Groundbreaker Rikki Swannell

World Rugby talks to the New Zealander about becoming the first female lead commentator on the men’s HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and her life in sports broadcasting.

Feature

Fri 20 May, 2022
5 min read
Andy Vilk, head coach of Italy men's sevens
4 min read

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Italy men’s sevens team seeks return to the big stage

The European men's qualification tournament for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022 is on the horizon with the prize of four tickets to Cape Town, South Africa at stake in July.

RWC Sevens 2022 qualifying

Thu 19 May, 2022
4 min read
Serevi Coaching Roadshow - HSBC Event
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HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Fiji are in Toulouse to win: “There is still room for improvement,” says Gollings

Gold and silver medals in their last two HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series outings have Fiji feeling good ahead of French tournament

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series

Thu 19 May, 2022
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