7s rugby

Sevens Expert Dallen Stanford kicks off his series of position specific articles. Don't miss round number one - an in-depth look at props in the game of Sevens with great video examples. 

The most common defense system in the modern 7’s era is the 6 in front with 1 at the back sweeping. This defensive pattern provides cover at the back if there is a kick through or a line break, the same as having a fullback in 15’s. 

Sevens rugby has a stigma attached to it that it’s all about attack and very little defense. This might have been true decades ago but the modern game of sevens has evolved and teams that are the most successful in the sevens arena focus a lot on defense during training. In this article I discuss the most important defensive principles in sevens.

The key to success on attack in 7’s is creating space and ensuring your speedsters get the ball in that space. On the attack a team should be looking to create and exploit an overlap situation but if you are outnumbered, pull back and suck the defense towards you before playing out wide into space again.

As a 7’s athlete you are in a constant cycle of training and recovery, it is therefore imperative that you pay close attention to recovery strategies and nutrition. If you go into your next workout not sufficiently recovered, dehydrated or low on energy through improper refueling, that can start a downward spiral of poor training and low energy, thus not achieving maximum results from that training session and decrease in performance.