Wales Sevens head coach Paul John will go on tour next week – in a bid to spread the gospel of sevens rugby.
The Rugby World Cup Sevens winning coach will travel to all four corners of Wales holding Sevens coaching workshops for school sports teachers.
He will deliver technical and skills sessions to over 100 PE professionals keen to use sevens within the school curriculum.
Beginning in Conway on Monday 5 July and then travelling to Llanelli in the Scarlets Region before moving onto the Ospreys, Blues and Dragons regions, John hopes the sessions will help those teachers who already include sevens as part of the sports offered to pupils, and give others an insight into some of its benefits.
He said: “The WRU sees Sevens rugby as a valuable tool in the development of rugby players of all levels. The players-to-space ratio in Sevens hones not only players’ fitness levels, but increases game awareness, decision-making, and improves skills and precision both in attack and defence.
“With Rugby Sevens an Olympic sport for 2016, we are constantly looking to improve the standard and competitiveness of our Sevens players, while sevens also provides a great platform to improve skills and technical ability for the 15-a-side game.”
Wales, Ospreys and Lions centre James Hook, who cut his teeth on the IRB Sevens circuit and scored the match-winning try to defeat South Africa in the Plate final at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games is a advocate of the sevens game within rugby development programmes.
He said, “Sevens certainly benefitted my game hugely in both attack and defence. It gives you a great awareness of space, and gives you the confidence to take on and beat players. Once you have done that in international sevens, you know you can do it in the 15-a-side game too.
“From a defensive point of view, it’s similar to the senior international game – if you miss one tackle, players are under the post scoring a try against you so your defensive skills improve too.”
The WRU coach education department has also created a Level One, IRB approved coaching course for Sevens which Paul John will help to deliver on Sunday 26 September, venue to be decided. To apply for a place on the course, contact [email protected]
