Kirshe Relishes 7s & 15s Ops This Fall

Those who were able to participate in the USA Women’s 15s and/or 7s residencies convey gratitude. They know that playing rugby during a global pandemic is a gift, and it was equally satisfying for the viewing public to watch a game on home soil, one that featured players who will represent the U.S. in the Summer Olympics and/or at Rugby World Cup 2021. And for three players, they were fortunate enough to participate in both the 15s and 7s matches.

The USA 7s program sent fall residents Jordan Matyas, who played No. 8 at the Rugby World Cup 2017; Ilona (“Lo”) Maher, a known, rising entity in the USA 15s age grades when she signed with USA 7s; and Kristi Kirshe, who started in 15s with Boston Women’s RFC and then fast-tracked into the 7s professional system. Additionally, Emily Henrich and Kayla Lawson were in Glendale for the entirety of the 15s long camp. Henrich captained the USA Stripes, and Lawson, who topped the 40-meter leader board, scored a try for the same side.

“Originally, there was supposed to be a camp for us 7s girls who were interested in 15s – before the start of our season, over the summer – had Covid not disrupted everything,” Kirshe explained. “In that situation, we wouldn’t have been able to go and play 15s [in Glendale] because we were planning on having the [HSBC World Rugby Sevens] Series and everything. So, yeah, it is a bit of a silver lining of getting that opportunity to go out there for two weeks. You get to meet the team, get to play with the girls, and honestly, just a cool opportunity to play a game.”

Covid-19 restrictions meant that players were placed into pods, so integration with the 15s team occurred in phases.

“I was really nervous coming in because, yeah, I’m a full-time 7s resident but I don’t really know anything about 15s,” said Kirshe, who played less than a year of 15s before being identified for USA 7s opportunities. “But everyone was really helpful and really nice, and really willing to help us all get on board with what they’ve been working on the last eight weeks, which was really special.

“Emily Henrich is a good friend of mine so I was texting her questions in the build-up [to the Stars vs. Stripes game],” Kishe said. “As captain of the team I was really comfortable going to her. ‘Hey, can you help explain this or this.’ … She was really helpful, which is really cool because she’s been in the game so long and knows so much.”

Kirshe said everyone was buzzing for game day. She noted some first-game jitters, but mostly the excitement with which everyone was playing.

“Big time,” Kirshe said of needing an adjustment period during the 15s game. “I’ve gotten so used to 7s. It’s a totally different game. It’s a chess match, the length of the game – just all the things I haven’t experienced in a while I had to re-experience. It took me a while to feel what was happening in the game. … ‘Everything is totally different from 7s. What do I do!?’”

Kirshe lined up against Maher on the wing, so there was certainly familiarity there.

“I think you saw it in the 15s game when Lo and I were lined up against each other,” Kirshe said when talking about the closeness of the 7s squad. “Neither of us were really doing anything because we’ve come to understand each other’s tendencies so much.

RELATED: Stripes Defeat Stars 34-12

“It was a really cool opportunity,” Kirshe reflected on the 15s camp. “It’s going to be interesting to see how it balances with the 7s season and what happens with the rest of the year, but I’m definitely interested in staying in the [15s] pool.”

The 15s assembly ended sooner than expected when two players tested positive for Covid-19. They were the first cases after a month-and-a-half of the Daily Training Environment and mini-camps. The second scrimmage didn’t occur, and the three 7s players returned to SoCal. Since the trio had left the 7s bubble, they had to isolate for a week and return two negative tests before reintegrating with the full squad.

“We’ve been limited in our full-team stuff,” Kirshe described the past five months at the Chula Vista Elite Athlete Training Center. “They have a bunch of different ways of monitoring it, but they’re limiting our close-exposure groups. So whenever we do contact or something like that we are in smaller groups, unless we’re doing scrimmages, in which case everyone has to get tested and have negative results before we go into that. In a normal training cycle all our gym time and contact sessions will be with a small group of people to limit whose in that exposure zone.”

The 7s residents contested a scrimmage approximately a month-and-a-half ago, and the Dec. 7-8 games were already on the schedule as part of the regular training calendar. The men’s Golden Eagles series provided an opportunity to live-stream a game, so the women added a Dec. 5 match that could be accessed by the viewing public. As family and friends checked in with encouragement, Kirshe described the Stars vs. Stripes with an air of excitement that typically builds with an impending World Series tournament. To boot, Kirshe captained the Stars team.

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“We’re getting a lot out of it especially in this time when we can’t have any international competition,” Kirshe said. “It’s been really nice to have that level of competition within the squad and that we get to play against each other. It’s one of those things where you don’t love tackling your teammates but it’s been great to see the buy-in from everyone. To just see the commitment to playing. … We are learning from it and figuring out where we’re at and it’s really important in the build-up to this summer.”

A really lovely game evolved, one that didn’t suffer from any game-time nerves and showcased everyone on the pitch nicely.

“It just shows we’ve been working day-in and day-out the last five months,” Kirshe said of the Dec. 5 match. “Even without competition we’re still working on getting better and getting into a place where we’re ready for when we do get to compete again.”

The teams remained intact for the Dec. 7-8 scrimmages, which Kirshe described as having ups and downs.

“Overall the level of competition has been really impressive and I think it’s getting harder to play against each other because we’ve been in such an enclosed environment for the last five months just playing with each other. We’re all learning each other really, really well,” Kirshe then referenced the showdown with Maher in the 15s game. “We know what to expect from each other so it really makes for a really interesting game. But honestly it’s bringing us closer as a squad, and we know how to play off our teammates better. And it also just means that we know how to defend our teammates. They were absolute battles, which was cool.”

Kirshe noted that there is room for creativity in terms of manipulating an opposing player who is simultaneously one’s teammate. But ultimately, that’s not what the games are showcasing.

“A lot of times you get into those moments where instinct just kind of kicks in and you can try to change it up, but also we’re playing against ourselves,” Kirshe said. “We’re playing the same style. We’re trying to play our system.

“In regular practice play, [the coaches] love to disrupt us and send us into chaos situations and make us handle them, which is really cool,” Kirshe said of training tactics that help prepare for international opposition. “They’re going to throw everything they can at us so that when we get to the World Series and we’re faced with situations we’re ready for it. So if we’re a man down for the rest of this game or we’re playing defense for four minutes, they kind of prepare us for the worst-case scenarios by throwing us all kinds of curveballs, so that when the time comes we’ll be ready to play on the world stage.”

The 7s group broke for winter break and Kirshe is currently at home in Boston, which she hasn’t visited since July. She’s going to relax, catch up with family, and then be ready to test back into the bubble in three weeks.

“It’s been an incredible five months,” Kirshe closed. “As a whole group, as a team and a whole staff, we’ve been really adaptable and resilient to everything that’s come our way, which has been really impressive. We’ve done a great job but when we come back we’re in for the real build-up. ‘Enjoy your time at home but be ready to work when we get back because we’re not slowing down.’”