'The lactic in your legs reaches crazy levels': Corrigan relishing Series reprise

After a sensational start to the Premiership Women’s Rugby season with Saracens, Alysha Corrigan cannot wait to get back on the HSBC SVNS Series.

The 29-year-old Canada international has scored six tries in the English women’s top flight so far this term, beaten 19 defenders and made 433 metres as Alex Austerberry’s side topped the table ahead of the winter break.

No stranger to the seven-a-side game, Corrigan is one of the squad that left Paris two summers ago with an Olympic silver medal around her neck.

She had rejoined Jocelyn Barrieau’s team alongside fellow format hoppers Olivia Apps, Gabby Senft, Sabrina Poulin and Fancy Bermudez for the trip to Singapore and Perth.

“The hardest part of switching back is, without doubt, the fitness: the lactic in your legs reaches crazy levels,” Corrigan told HSBC SVNS.

“Your brain knows that you’re supposed to move – to generate power, or do literally anything at all — but you just can’t. Throw 35C heat into that equation, and you’re asking yourself why you do this.

“There then comes a point when even your brain isn’t working, you hardly know what you’re doing, and it’s fight or flight. It’s hard to do it justice. You think 14 minutes isn’t that long, but 14 minutes in sevens is an eternity.”

Corrigan is a staunch believer in the usefulness of sevens for individual development. She has also seen the likes of Jorja Miller, Meg Jones and Alev Kelter flit between the format and the 15-a-side game with ease.

Over the Christmas break, with Saracens top of PWR, she returned home to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, and prepared for her latest spell on the Series alone.

Hours were spent in empty gyms as the majority of the town avoided the bitter winter on the far east coast.

“Because I just love sevens,” she laughed. “Your first session back, there’s always this thrilling moment where you realise just how much space there is to play with, and how much fun you can have with that.

“Plus, this stint works perfectly with my Saracens’ schedule. I was going to use January as a bit of an off-season anyway. It’s been so long since we had a sustained training block. It’s still a good break, mentally, emotionally, and from 15s-style contact.”

After legs in Dubai and Cape Town, the Canadians are yet to set the world alight after back-to-back sixth-place finishes.

Ranked seventh overall in the standings Canada are yet to finish Day 2 with a win.

Even so their young captain, Carissa Norsten, and starlet Kennedi Stevenson have looked every bit the part on the biggest sevens stage outside of the Olympics.

“That’s been one of the biggest takeaways from Dubai and Cape Town: we lacked, at a few key moments, the sort of game management you can only really gain from big match experience.

“We’re a slightly new-look squad, transitioning elements of our game. But what’s awesome is that Jocelyn empowers us to try things as we grow and learn together, which opens the door to nerve-free rugby.

“She’s amazing — so passionate about the sport, our team, and what it means to be Canadian and represent that badge. She’s the perfect person to get that extra one or two per cent out of us, to keep challenging us, whilst bringing through the younger athletes.”