Host Team Ready To Rock At Premiership 7s
Host Team Ready To Rock At Premiership 7s
Northampton Saints players Ollie Sleightholme and Tom Emery check in with FloRugby and are ready for the Premiership 7s.
Franklin’s Gardens in Northampton, England, will be the host venue for the Premiership 7s this weekend, and the home players—the Northampton Saints—are looking to make an impression.
Watch the Premiership 7s LIVE on FloRugby
Friday, July 27 - Saturday, July 28
“We know most of the crowd will be being us,” said young Ollie Sleightholme, who played for the England Youth Commonwealth Games sevens team last year and is a potential future star for the Saints. “We have a lot of support and most of the lads from the club will be there for us.”
Getting ready for the Premiership 7s means putting 15s out of your mind. These clubs are training for the Gallagher Premiership season as well as looking to the Premiership 7s.
“You’ve just got to switch your 15s brain off and think a little differently,” Sleightholme said. “When you’re defending, you’re not going to rush so much as push out a bit more.”
“It’s an adjustment,” added Tom Emery, who will be playing in his fourth Premiership 7s. “You don’t want to take it into contact as often—you’re pulling back and resetting the attack instead. It takes a different approach.”
But there’s a similarity in approach when it comes to players who want to make an impression.
“It’s a great opportunity to get a first run-out and put our hand up for the coaches,” Emery said. “It’s especially important for the younger lads to give the coaches something to look at in a game situation.”
These young lads got some inspiration from the Rugby World Cup 7s last week, watching the England men’s team make it to the final. Sleightholme was especially impressed with Ollie Lindsay-Hague’s play.
“I thought he had an outstanding tournament, and watching you just try to take a bit of that and apply it to your game,” he said.
And maybe in the not-too-distant future, we might see some of these Premiership 7s standouts playing sevens for England.