The HSBC SVNS season opener provides the first glimpse of who is going to light up the men’s and women’s HSBC SVNS Series this year.
The international teams normally arrive a week before the tournament to adjust to the heat and the time zone. Over the first few days, players make the most of pool sessions, ice baths and compression garments to prep their bodies for competition.
They also get a chance to get out and about to experience what Dubai has to offer, from the beaches, the desert, the malls and everything in between. But they mustn’t lose track of the real reason they’re in Dubai: to take part in the opening HSBC SVNS competition of the new season.
The battle for glory in Dubai truly begins on the Tuesday or Wednesday before the big weekend. This is when teams will play a game of grab against another World Series opposition. These games were some of my favourite memories from my time on the series.
The goal is simple: test combinations and systems at game intensity against new opposition without the risk of contact. This is teams’ first chance to test their game plan after a long pre-season.
The usual format is to play against a team in a different pool, with one of the ’ coaches refereeing. The game can be chopped up in many ways, but is often in five-minute quarters with the chance to run strike plays at the end.
These games are meant to be ‘grab’ to avoid risk of injury before the tournament. But I have lost count of how many of these sessions have turned into full-contact battles. It can take just one moment to spark it and I’ve seen everything from fights to season-ending injuries. And there are so many ways in which this can happen:
Firstly, the combination of the intense white desert heat and months of gruelling training can lead to bottled-up frustration and anticipation.
These grab games offer the first release of that energy. I have a vivid memory of one of our players being taken out at the first kick-off due to the opposition being too eager to get into the game.
Another is that it’s the first chance to begin the ‘mindgames’ with your opposite number. Even though you won’t play each other in the group, there is a very real chance you’ll cross paths on the weekend. Feeling like you’ve already one-upped that player can raise your confidence no end.
But perhaps the most common reason that these grab games turn to blows is the difference in rules between countries. This could be as simple as how far you can run after being grabbed, what the tackler must do after the grab, rules around rucks and even how the referee interprets a grab.
The first misstep with any of the rules is normally given as fair play, but any continued perceived infringement is guaranteed to trigger a reaction. Being extremely competitive athletes, everyone is looking for those ‘small wins’ so these ‘friendly training games’ often teeter on a knife-edge.
The final cause is that grudges and rivalries are very real on HSBC SVNS Series. While most teams and players get on extremely well, playing against the same teams year after year has created fierce rivalries. So it doesn’t matter if it was a full-contact game, a game of grab or even a game of table tennis in the team’s social area, players are out to win.
I should point out that not every game of grab ends in blows and most teams get on well. But it truly does only take one misstep from a player...
Throughout my career, I always enjoyed and looked forward to these games, but as I gained experience, I learned not to worry about the result as much. I remember running rings around a team mid-week but, by the end of the tournament weekend, they were in the cup final and we were in the bowl final.
Equally, I’ve seen the reverse as well. I think the fact that 7s is so unpredictable plays a huge role in this, and that small moments can have huge impacts. Towards the tail end of my career, I concentrated purely on getting up to speed in these games and executing my skills.
What does all this mean? Not much, in the great scheme of rugby things, but now you know that, even before the HSBC SVNS kicks off in Dubai on November 29, some of the fiercest games have already been played behind closed doors.