You can learn more from a loss then a win

I just thought I would spend a little time talking about our recent tour to Hong Kong, our two week break, and us as a team moving forward.
We recently, well 4 weeks ago now, were in Hong Kong for the second of the IRB Challenge cup series. I hadn't really wrote about it because I think I needed time to reflect rather then react on emotions. Now your probably curious why I just told you that. In Hong Kong this year we placed 3/4. After just over a year and 5 tournaments later we were the team to beat. We placed 1st on every occasion given the opportunity. In Hong Kong, day one, we beat Brazil in what coach had referred to as the perfect game. With minimal errors we nailed the game plan, and came off that one with a high. Moving on to our second pool game we faced Russia. I would say they would have been the second fittest team, next to us, competing in the tournament. Not only were they fit, but they didn't lack in size, skill or speed! That was a tough game, even though we had a good lead on them, it was a fight to the finish. If we let off at all, for a second, they would have had the potential to over take us. I can honestly say that was one of the harder games of 7s I had ever been involved in. A mixture of the physical nature, the heat, humidity, and pace of the game made it very challenging. Its good to be challenged, its why we play. That point brings me to our next game. Doing well in our pool put us at the top and gave us our game against England in the Semi finals the next day. Now playing in a stadium, with 30,000 screaming fans is an amazing experience one thrives for. With women's rugby on the up, what a better way to show case the game with two of the top teams in the world right now. Hong Kong, one of the most popular 7s tournaments there is, is a great place to get people talking about how amazing that women's match in the stadium was. The word gets out, and the women's game is starting to get seen in a different light. Being compared to the men's game even. I can say that about some of our previous tournaments, but this time around it was a bit of a different story, a different outcome. Something was about to happen that nothing could have really prepared us for. We lost to England in the semi finals. We were beat. For the first time in 5 tournaments, Canada would not be playing in the final for the top spot. England went on to play Aus in the final and won. That game got people talking. What a final! Those two teams played their hearts out. The saying leave everything on the field, no regrets. Well that was literally what happened in that game. The final could have went either way with a fight to the very last second, and England takes home the cup. That was a very hard feeling to deal with. That feeling of not being recognized as winning that tournament, not getting the same response we usually had gotten after every occasion of over a year of success. The way I see it is we started off playing 7s with no track record. Canada not usually being known as the best in the world, or for winning in general. Then coming away with a clean sweep of 2011, winning 5 out of 5. We all knew, an unspoken thought, that there was going to be a point when we would lose. Now when that would happen no one knew, or really wanted to think about, especially happening so soon. Our streak had come to an end. Our heads were down, mentally I think most of us were a mess. The thoughts running through our minds I bet you can only imagine. What was going through my mind was we lost, do people think we are a joke, does this mean we are a bad team, where do we go from here, what happens now? My confidence was totally shot. My head was down, and for weeks I couldn't get the game out of my head. The game was haunting me, literally eating me alive. We had a two week break, and I honestly didn't feel I rested at all because my mind was so active. Now these are normal reactions for any competitive athlete, its an obsession. But in the end, the difference between a good team and a great team is the one who can overcome the mental barrier they put up, use what they learned from the loss, and rise to the challenge to come back stronger. After weeks of consuming myself with this loss, I started to realize we are a great team. One loss doesn't make us a bad team. We know our skills let us down, and now that is something we can go back and work on. It will only build our program and make it stronger. They say you learn more from a loss then a win, and I truly do see that side of it now. As much as it was an awful feeling to go through, to experience that loss, I am also thankful for it. We all are. The team moral is up. Coming back to our first week of training, with our new programs, our new training groups, and a new attitude we are back on track. You can tell the fire is lit and everyone has embraced this challenge, this gift. We are gearing up for London 7s in 4 weeks time. Another opportunity to put our hard work into play, and really test our skills. This is something we are all looking forward to, as selections have not yet been made.
Moving forward we have a lot of work to do. Taking one tournament at a time, looking to grow from every experience. The opportunity to play the best in the world, and challenge our skills. We have a 4 year plan and perfection doesn't happen over night. We are working on it, and as a team we are committed to the program, the process. We have bought in, and wont settle for anything less then greatness.