‘The players want to be great’: Crystal Kaua’s ambitious plan for Brazil

“Boa tarde, tudo bem?” This was how Crystal Kaua, Brazil’s new women’s sevens head coach, welcomed us at the start of our interview, already showcasing her progress in learning Brazilian Portuguese.

The now-former head coach of the Chiefs Manawa accepted the Brazilian role back in October, but not before some family deliberation.

“We actually made a pros and cons list before penning the deal,” Kaua revealed. “I say we, as the decision was made between me, my husband and our two kids, and they will be joining me after December.

“We talked it over and made the decision as a family, as it is a big change for all of us.”

After guiding the Chiefs Manawa to the Super Rugby Aupiki final in 2024, Kaua felt the need for a change of scenery.

“I had been with the Chiefs for three years, and before that with the New Zealand sevens programme,” she added.

“I started to miss the environment of having players available year-round and coaching full-time. It suits me better, as I am a very humanistic kind of coach.

“With the Chiefs we only were together as a team four days a week, which is a very short time to work especially when the season is condensed in three months.

“Brazil was aligned more with the way that I like to coach and offered me the opportunity to be dedicated full-time to a project. I have to say that the talent, speed and joy that Brazil has as a team excited me from the get-go.”

Between her announcement as head coach and the first official tournament, the Sudamérica Rugby Women’s Sevens in Peru, Kaua had only two weeks to work with the players.

But it was enough time to confirm her initial impressions about the team’s potential.

“The players want to be great. That was the feature that I loved the most from the past weekend,” Kaua said.

“This is the very start of our new journey. We want to change the way they play and see the game, to help them learn how to better read the pictures across the board and use the speed and that acceleration that has made a difference for Brazil in the last couple of years.

“I am really impressed with the team. We explained what needed to be changed, the skill set required to be here, what our goals are going forward and how our fitness must go to a higher level, and they accepted it.

“These first three or four months I just need to understand the players, understand Brazil and how it works. It is a completely new world and culture for me, and I need to take the time to really understand who they are.”

Brazil qualified to the final of the Sudaméricano but ultimately failed to defeat a gritty and hard-as-nails Argentina side.

Although the Yaras didn’t leave Peru with the silverware, the staff felt positive about the experience.

“We went to the Sudaméricano 2024 with the idea of testing some new and young players in the team, as our player pool is small, particularly when we are talking about a team who plays in the SVNS circuit,” Kaua explained.

“As this is the start of a new Olympic cycle, it was the perfect moment to give those new faces good competitive minutes. The team only started to work again since mid-October, and what we did in those two weeks together was good, foundational, and will build the blocks required for long-term success.

“We are looking at this from a long-term perspective, but our job is to help develop new players, expose them to the World Series, as they represent the future of our game.”

For Kaua, it is vital that Brazil make the most of the new Olympic cycle as they aim to progress even further.

She said: “I definitely want to see us move from being a team in 10th position. It is important to continue the work that has been done, but also challenge us to be more ambitious.

“It is important to challenge the players, and I do believe they can climb up a level or two, and the best example was the Yaras qualification for the 2025 Rugby World Cup.

“We have a very small player pool, and it will be important for us to know how to navigate those two wheels, the sevens and 15s. How are we going to look after our player base? How do we create a future for these women to perform on the world stage? These are important challenges for us.”

But how did a Super Rugby Aupiki head coach, who had previously worked with the New Zealand sevens women’s squad make the decision to board a plane to Brazil?

“You know what is brilliant in Brazil rugby? The leadership within our organisation. That was one of the biggest reasons that weighed heavily in my decision to come,” Kaua said.

“From the CEO to the high-performance director, everyone is aligned in terms of where they see the sport moving and taking more ambitious steps.”

For Kaua, the Brazilian way of not giving up has instantly made her fall in love with the country.

“It’s very different from the world I come from, as in New Zealand we have access to everything required to excel,” she said.

“There’s no excuse not to perform well, as we have good resources, players, etc. In Brazil there are a lot of challenges and obstacles, but that’s precisely why I love their mindset so much, they will always find a way to overcome.

“But we need to overcome some of these challenges, so it isn’t hard for us every year to keep our seat in SVNS. In my tenure here, I would like to see some shifts in player numbers, sponsorships, resources so we can perform at a higher level.”

Brazil qualified for Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025, adding an extra layer of pressure and ambition to the sevens squad, as most of them play both formats.

So, how will the Brazilian sevens players approach this challenge?

“One of the best things of having been a 15s and a sevens coach is that I know what is required for a player to make it to the top level in 15s,” Kaua said.

“I know that we can ensure that we deliver some players from our sevens programmes to the Yaras XV. For example, the players who won’t make it into the sevens team that will play in Dubai, will be going to the Netherlands to get involved in the 15s.

“It will be a challenge, but Emiliano Caffera [Brazil XVs head coach] and I have been working together to find a perfect balance.”

Can a good sevens player translate into a valuable member of a 15s team?

“Sevens in New Zealand has been one of the biggest points of difference. If you can play sevens then 15s is easy,” Kaua said.

“You learn how to defend those big spaces, how to change the speed of the game, etc. Sevens still has a huge part to play in pushing our game to new territories.

“A handful of the best players from WXV came from the sevens programmes, and that should tell you something.”

For Kaua, sevens is still a spectacular world… and a special place that can get the best out of any individual.

“I think you have to love going into the dark. In sevens you have to really enjoy taking your body and mind to places it has never been before and figuring out how to deal with it,” she said.

“That mindset is a massive part of it. If we can take their aerobic conditioning to another level, we can go to uncharted territory. We can’t play like New Zealand, Australia, Fiji, etc. We have to find our own playing style, something vital in sevens.”

And circling back to Brazil, can Kaua explain what Brazil must do in the next year?

“We still haven’t developed the Brazilian way of playing rugby, and that was the thing that made me very keen to work not only with the sevens but with the player development project and local academy system,” she explained.

“For me, it is important how we play as close to the DNA of the people, so that they are just being themselves out there.

“It will take some time, there’s a lot of work to do, but I don’t believe in results without hard work. It’s not going to be a quick fix.”

Kaua’s story in the sport has been one packed with massive challenges and great moments.

A New Zealand Maori international, she hung up her boots in 2014 and thought carefully about her next step. Becoming a coach was on the cards… but was it a natural step?

“Sports and rugby changed my life. I didn’t start coaching to become a professional coach, I just wanted to teach school kids and make them fall in love with the game,” she said.

“I started this journey eight years ago coaching kids and volunteering, and I loved every minute of it. I just kept going and saying, ‘suck it up, and don’t stop’ on the most challenging days.”

Kaua will be one of two women to lead a SVNS national team in the upcoming season, a significant milestone.

“I do think it is important to have more women taking the coaching role, especially at the top level,” she acknowledged.

“Little girls that dream of becoming a coach can look up and see that someone like them was able to do that and pave the way. Times have changed since I was young.”

Is women’s rugby starting a new era?

“100 per cent. These are exciting times for the women’s game. Ten years ago, we wouldn’t have women coaching the best teams of the world, or even being put through the interview process.

“We have experienced a huge shift, which is great. We can change the game financially and make it a better world for our players and staff.

“Look at the Brazil girls and how inspiring their stories are. They can change people’s lives, and I do think these are the stories that need to be told and shared.”

With the Dubai 7s on the horizon, Crystal Kaua shares her goals for the next two years before departing for another intense training session.

“I would like to see that we’ve been able to expand our player pool and become a threat to the top teams in the SVNS series,” she said.

“If we do everything right and they don’t, we can take them down! That drives and motivates me. That’s one of the goals that I would like to achieve in two years.”