It’s test match time now for the USA women’s national 15s team and, indeed, test matches building toward a World Cup.
So there’s little time to ease into things even with two weeks of preparation going on right now. The Eagles have Japan to face and then Canada and Fiji before Sione Fukofuka finalizes his World Cup squad.
What that means, ultimately, is that every player has to be on her A-game right now—physically fit, mentally clued-in, and knowledgeable about how the team goes about its business.
Virtual meetings have been crucial in getting the plays, plan, structure, and approach down. But the players have to have done their homework. Coaching staff presented the players with the details of attack, defense, and set piece in a variety of emails and then that was backed up by a Zoom meeting to go over details and answer questions.
“The expectation is that the players have done their homework,” said Fukofuka. “They've had a look at it, firstly, to digest it, and then in that meeting to ask questions. Obviously we'll lead and try and provide as much detail as possible. But when they roll up on the Sunday, and we start Monday, there's a clear expectation that they understand their roles. They've got the content down, and we're effectively ready to go.”
The players have lived up to that side of the bargain, said the coach. Some coaching continuity and continuity of message has helped there.
“We’re pretty lucky as this is our second year,” added Fukofuka. “So really we implemented and installed a lot of stuff last year that we're building off. So the changes this year have been refinements versus a whole new system or structure which has made the first two days pretty seamless to be fair, and the vast majority of the players in this squad were either involved last year or in the ID camp in January. So again, pretty seamless. They've had access to the game model and we’ve felt really positive around how they've come in.”
