The USA men’s sevens team lost just one game at the Hamilton Sevens in New Zealand over the weekend but still finished a distant ninth place overall.

The vagaries of these World Series tournaments mean that one little mistake, or a bad half here to there, can drop a team out of the top eight. For the Eagles, after playing some pretty good rugby, their fortunes turned on one bad referee call and a couple of dumb penalties.

But at the same time, ninth means they went 3-0 on the final day of action and won the Challenge Cup. 

POOL PLAY

USA 28, Canada 14

Tries: Baker 2, Unufe, Iosefo

Convs: Barrett, Niua 3

The USA started off nicely, with the Eagles taking care of Canada as they should. 

Nathan Hirayama pulled off a brilliant play to put Canada up early, and John Moonlight made it 14-0 for the Canadians. But after that it was all USA. Perry Baker scored two tries, and Make Unufe and Martin Iosefo helped put the game away.

Baker's two tries put him ahead of Zack Test for the most all-time from a USA player at 144 tries.

Congrats @SpeedSt11ck on the @USARugby 7’s try scoring record. Amazing to watch you grow and become one of the worlds best. You’re dedication and work ethic to your craft has been an honor and a privilege to watch. Well deserved.#144 #oldspice #usaeagles #speedkills #passthetorch

— Zack Test (@ZTesty5) February 2, 2018

Baker ended the tournament with seven tries, bringing his career mark to 149. (His second try against Canada was wild, as he spun out of three tackles and really had no business scoring.) 

Samoa 14, USA 10

Tries: Pinkelman, Baker

Against Samoa, the Eagles started poorly but pulled the game back with two tries to lead 10-7. The USA made too many errors in the Samoa 22 — not releasing the ball and in from the side were the two most common penalties — and they weren’t really necessary. Most of the time the offending player had support and just had to calm down a bit.

Still, the Eagles were in the lead and pressuring Samoa near the Samoan try line. That’s when the Samoan halfback tried to pass the ball out of the back of the ruck and muffed the pickup. That was a knock-on, not called by referee Damon Murphy. But then Murphy compounded the error. Rugby law says you cannot make a move that tempts the defensive line offside. But on the muffed pickup, the USA defenders took a step forward. So offside was (unfairly) called, and Samoa took the tap quickly and raced to score the winning try.

It shouldn’t have come down to the final play — the Eagles had plenty of opportunity to score — but when it did the Americans were hurt by the referee’s decisions at the end of the game.

USA 19, Kenya 19

Tries: Baker, Isles 2

Convs: Niua 2

The Eagles had to win against Kenya to make the Cup Quarterfinals. Instead the Americans did everything they could to hand the game to the Kenyans, committing silly penalties and losing control of the ball repeatedly. 

Carlin Isles scored two tries and made a try-saving tackle, as the Eagles came back from 19-0 down to tie it 19-19. But a tie wasn’t enough, relegating the USA to the Challenge Cup.

CHALLENGE CUP

Quarterfinal: USA 29, Spain 12

Tries: Iosefo, Baker 2, Barrett, Isles

Convs: Niua 2

Semifinal: USA 42, Papua New Guinea 12

Tries: Williams 2, Baker, Leuta, Iosefo, Isles

Convs: Niua 5, Boyer

If you’re going to deal with the disappointment of being in the Challenge Cup round, at least deal with the disappointment by playing well. And play well the USA did. The Eagles dispatched Spain comfortably, with Baker torching the Lions for two. The USA followed up that performance by crushing Papua New Guinea in the semifinals, with six players scoring tries.

Final: USA 31, Argentina 12

Tries: Barrett 2, Baker, Niua, Pinkelman

Convs: Niua 3

The Eagles advanced to the Challenge Cup final against Argentina, a team that had beaten the USA a week ago. This time, the Eagles continued their habit of retaining kickoffs and used Baker with intelligence, reasoning that he’s a good decoy as well as a scorer.

Folau's hair looks glorious in super slo motion

— Madison Hughes (@MadisonHughes15) February 4, 2018

Folau Niua set up Danny Barrett for one try. Then right off the restart, Make Unufe won the ball and Baker passed off to Barrett for the big man’s second.

Baker scored right off a kickoff, too, and then stole the ball for another. Niua scored on a show-and-go, and Ben Pinkelman finished it all off with a try after a rollicking Barrett run.

Notes: For the Americans, it was actually a decent run of performances. However, the inability to finish in the red zone against Samoa, and that bad call at the end, hurt them. The game against Kenya should have been a runaway, and the USA players knew it.

We did get to see Carlin Isles and Perry Baker on the field at the same time — something coach Mike Friday has said is a combination that doesn’t work. Maybe he’s changing his mind a little. Certainly fans would like to see Isles more.

The USA held on to seventh place overall in the World Series, but just barely. Kenya and Samoa both inched closer, and now trail the Eagles by a point in the standings.

Highlights: @FijiRugby take the #NZSevens title after a pulsating two days of action. pic.twitter.com/oTRWXeIWCR

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) February 4, 2018

South Africa is easily first in the World Series standings, while Fiji won the Hamilton Sevens, beating the Blitzboks 24-17 in the final. This was the same Fiji team the USA throttled a week ago.