The Costa style is shaking things up
Avoid contact. Move the ball. Control possession. It sounds simple enough, but three Argentinian brothers have taken the simple and turned it into something unique.
Nico, Rodrigo and Ignacio Costa could be changing the face of sevens in New Zealand.
They turned out for Southland at last weekend’s national sevens tournament in Tauranga. Southland didn’t come into the tournament as favourites and, true to form, didn’t reach any great heights, other than a statement win over Auckland on day one.
But still, fans left talking about the men in maroon, and specifically the Costa brothers.
The three have a unique style of playing sevens, one that caught the eye of both sevens guru Sir Gordon Tietjens and Commonwealth Games gold medallist Roger Randle.
Tietjens spoke glowingly about the brand of sevens on display from both the Costas and at the tournament on the whole.
‘‘The Costa boys can certainly play,’’ Tietjens said. ‘‘They have very good feet and it’s a unique style, one that’s very effective for them. They have unbelievable vision and understanding for the game.’’
In essence ‘‘the Costa style’’ is three-pronged: avoid contact, move the ball and control possession.
Nico Costa, who has played for both Auckland and Southland at Mitre 10 Cup level, said their style drew a lot inspiration from football. They happily go backwards in order to go forwards, something that puzzled fans and commentators alike at the national tournament.
Southland coaches Dave Cavanagh and Dan Iosefo have preached and implemented a similar style in recent years, and were happy to let the three brothers express themselves on the park, Nico Costa said.
And while Southland couldn’t quite get the job done in Tauranga, the Costa style has proven successful around the globe for a number of years.
The brothers play their club football for Eden, in Auckland, where they have won back-toback national sevens titles.
They are the defending Rarotonga Sevens champions and winners of the Dubai International Invitational as well, with their side hand-picked side Speranza 22.
‘‘People hate on our style a lot because it’s not traditional sevens, but if done right it really works and is more entertaining,’’ Rodrigo Costa said.
‘‘We pass and reload, we don’t pass and follow. And by avoiding contact it really tires other sides out. There are plenty of games with Speranza specifically where we control north of 80 per cent possession. That doesn’t happen in traditional sevens.’’
Watching the three play is like watching a tennis match, with the amount of back and forth passing.
The style of play emphasises teamwork over ‘‘hero ball’’, but only works if everyone is on the same page, Rodrigo Costa said.
It’s a style that has begun to filter into other sides as well, with teams such as Counties Manukau and Otago opting to play a far more expansive style of game than they traditionally have.
‘‘Ideally sevens to us is positionless, and there is no reason why forwards should be forwards and wingers have to be wingers,’’ Nico Costa said.
‘‘I think in the future you will see sides opt for more speed and move away from the big boys. And it’s already sort of happening.’’
Randle agreed that the Costa style was an effective one, but felt balance was still necessary at the highest level
In an ideal world, a side would complement the Costa style with a power and offload game as well, he said.
‘‘Counties have been very successful at finding that balance and I still think at the highest level there is a place for a bit of power.’’
Tietjens echoed Randle’s sentiment, and felt sides who have been the most successful on the sevens world circuit are about exactly that, balance.
‘‘It works for them [the Costa brothers] but at the end of the day you still need to set targets, and you see at the top level the good sides are still doing that.
‘‘Could that change and the Costa style win out? Potentially. But if you are good defensively in sevens you can go a long way, I think that’s ultimately where the game is still won and lost.’’