Bydwell and Kirshe set main objective for home SVNS tournament

Emilie Bydwell and Kristi Kirshe shared a quick glance at one another when asked what constitutes success for the USA Women’s Eagles Sevens this weekend in New York.

In tandem the pair turned back to the laptop they were huddled around in their hotel foyer. Their answer was clear.

“From my perspective, coaching, being on the podium at home,” Bydwell said.

“Yeah, I would agree, that would be the big objective – being on the podium at home,” Kirshe said.

Coming into this weekend’s tournament at Sports Illustrated Stadium the USA know that breaking New Zealand and Australia’s stranglehold at the top will be difficult.

The Southern Hemisphere teams have been almost inseparable all season and have contended every final this season against one another. The Black Ferns have been winners on four occasions.

Ahead of this weekend’s hone HSBC SVNS Series tournament in New York the Eagles are third in the women’s standings.

Last time out in Vancouver the team finished on the lowest step of the podium thanks to a 35-21 win over France in the bronze medal match at BC Place.

It was the team’s first top three finish of the season and came after third-place final losses in Cape Town, Singapore and Perth. Two of those defeats came at the hands of France.

But consistency, while installing a new style of play, is reaping its rewards. The season has even seen the Eagles beat the Black Ferns. Vancouver, if nothing else, was just rewards for believing in the process.

“We’re still pretty early in our journey in terms of developing our new style of play and our new game model that’s custom build for this group of players,” Bydwell said. “The players did a great job (in Vancouver). For this week just being five per cent better (is the aim).

“I think we saw a lot of really good stuff on attack. A lot of decisiveness. A lot of players expressing. I think there’s still other little things around, are we supporting the ball well enough? Are we getting into position well enough on the ball? Are we getting into position well enough off the ball?

“You know, the small details that with increased awareness and intent they’ll do better. We could have closed the gap even more against Australia (22-7 loss) and New Zealand (19-12 loss). It’s just honing in on some of those details.

“From a defensive standpoint we’re continuing to figure out how we can commit to applying a lot of pressure. I think what was really cool from the players, we saw for the first time in this new iteration of how we’re trying to play, this combination of aggressive intent with physicality.

“This week it’s not about any massive changes. It’s just, where can we be five per cent better?”

For this weekend’s tournament the Eagles have been named in Pool B with Australia, Canada and Japan.

While top spot is out of the question, Kirshe and her teammates will want a strong finish to the Series season before HSBC SVNS World Championship events in Hong Kong, Valladolid and Bordeaux.

It will be the first time that a HSBC SVNS Series event will have been hosted in New York. Over the years the American leg of the season has been held in Los Angeles, San Diego and Las Vegas.

Not once has rugby sevens touched down on the USA’s east coast. Until now.

A new location brings with it plenty of new opportunities. This includes a return home for Brooklyn-raised Su Adegoke and a career-first for Eagles skipper Kirshe.

“It’s really exciting,” Kirshe, who was born and raised in Massachusetts, said. “In my whole professional career, I’ve never gotten to play on this side of the country. I have a lot of family and friends coming out. That’s extra exciting. Many of them are going to see me play in person for the first time.

“I think just getting ready for a home tournament in general, you get a little extra motivation from the fans. A little extra push from knowing your family and friends are there.

“In general, we’re always trying to inspire young girls, and young boys, out there to believe that this is something that they can do if they want to. Just showing them what it looks like when you get to chase your dreams.”

Coming to a new home venue allows the Eagles to whip up new support as the road to LA28 continues and, perhaps most importantly, inspire that next generation of players.

This team, led by Bydwell, have a one-track mind and clear identity. The team know exactly what they want to achieve. Exactly what they want to embody. They even know how they will go about getting to their end goal of a podium finish at a home Olympic Games in two years’ time.

“The opportunity to play at home, being the most diverse American national team that there is – and that’s diversity across all different ways that you could think about diversity – when it a polarising time for this country, being able to really demonstrate the power that exists in diversity (is important),” Bydwell said.

“(Our) mission and purpose is to deliver inspirational performances can empower out communities. Ultimately, we’re shaping the future of American rugby through what we do as a team.”