Lance Macdonald hones coaching craft at National Sevens tournament

Bay of Plenty's Peni Lasaqa skips away from an opponent during the TECT National Sevens. Photo / George Novak

The key to success in any role is an eagerness to learn and take on advice from others.

Even the best coaches, the likes of Sir Graham Henry and Sir Gordon Tietjens, would never have made it if they had assumed they and they alone knew it all from the get-go.

That is a fact which Bay of Plenty men's sevens head coach Lance Macdonald was well aware of as he led his side at the TECT National Sevens at the weekend.

Boasting a successful playing career himself in which he represented the Bay of Plenty Steamers and All Blacks Sevens, he said he "kind of fell into coaching" but was loving the new challenge.

"You're always learning. I've got guys like [assistant coach] James Porter, absolutely outstanding coach, and you pick up little bits and pieces from different campaigns and try to implement them to get better.

"I don't think many people reinvent the wheel, even at that top grade, there's subtle differences but you do the basics really well and key areas where you can have an influence."

It was an impressive National Sevens coaching debut for Macdonald as he led the men's side to the Cup semifinals where they went down 10-19 to close rivals Waikato. There was no third place playoff in the men's tournament.

Earlier on day two, Bay of Plenty beat Hawke's Bay 12-10 in the quarterfinal after winning two of three games in pool play on day one.

The result was an improvement on the 2018 tournament when the Bay of Plenty men, ravaged by injury, finished bottom of their pool.

Lance MacDonald splits the Canterbury defence for the Steamers in 2008. Photo / Photosport

Macdonald said the transition from playing to coaching had been more difficult than he anticipated.

"The game has changed a lot since I was playing, which wasn't even that long ago, but the type of sevens being played now is competitive, high octane and there are real big lads running around. Some things stay the same but the game has evolved and I've had to try to evolve with it.

"You lean on your leadership group who are playing sevens week-in, week-out. I've coached a little bit of sevens, this year and last, but in terms of when I was playing it's so different."

Declan Barnett goes in to score for bay of Plenty against North Harbour. Photo / George Novak

In terms of the coaches he played under, including Tietjens, Macdonald is not short of inspiration.

"His attention to detail is phenomenal and his passion for the game. I remember he used to sit right on halfway and the touch judge used to have to run around him. He was there and it kind of brought out more in you because he's not shy of coming to talk to you. He'd be at all the tournaments around the country, he just loved the game and that passion flowed into the teams he coached.

"You have to have your own style and stick to who you are though - they'll find you out otherwise. Just be yourself is the biggest thing I've learned, the boys will know if it's genuine or not.

"It's more important for them to respect you as a player and a coach for what you've done and believe you. I've told them I don't now anything but I'm open and I'm approachable, we've got guys who have played a lot of sevens and they have a big input into how we play."

Bay of Plenty's Mererangi Paulbreaks through an Auckland tackle. Photo / George Novak

Meanwhile, the Bay of Plenty women's team repeated their 2018 ranking of fourth after going down 10-33 to Auckland in the third-place playoff.

It was an impressive showing for a side brimming with young and relatively inexperienced players. They beat Wellington 17-10 in the quarterfinals before going down 19-24 to Counties Manakau in the Cup semis.

Captain Tania-Rose Raharuhi said it was an "amazing" weekend of sevens during which she enjoyed watching her team grow.

"The competition just keeps improving every year. We started a bit slow on day one but from then on we just treated every game like a final and tried to build.

"It's cool to see some of the newer players getting the confidence to back themselves on the rugby field. A lot of people shy away from contact but these girls give 100 per cent."