The USA Men’s Sevens team celebrated Perry Baker’s second-straight World Rugby 7s Player Of The Year with a trip to the final of the Dubai 7s.
A fairy tale ending, however, wasn’t to be as the Eagles ended a solid weekend by gift-wrapping the final for New Zealand.
The Eagles came into the tournament healthy and with perhaps as relaxed a buildup as the team has had in some time. No major injuries, no additional demands on time. The result was a fairly polished first day.
The USA shut out Spain 29-0 to open the season. Danny Barrett was his bulldozing self, and Baker scored two tries as the Eagles rolled.
USA 29 Spain 0
Tries: Barrett, Baker 2, Leuta, Isles
Convs: Hughes 2
The USA built on that to set down Wales 33-12. Folau Niua, usually the playmaker, scored at the beginning of each half, and each time Wales scored, the Eagles were able to answer.
USA 33 Wales 12
Tries: Niua 2, Baker, Hughes, Williams
Convs: Hughes 3, Williams
Things didn’t go as well in the final pool game against New Zealand. Baker was sin-binned right off the kickoff for taking out an opponent in the air. New Zealand exploited the man advantage and worked its way down to score in the corner.
The All Blacks Sevens was then content to pin the Eagles in their own half. Decent defense and some USA mistakes meant the USA rarely saw halfway, and eventually New Zealand put Andrew Knewstubb over.
In the second half New Zealand extended the lead Carlin Isles got one back but it was too late. 24-7 New Zealand.
USA 7 New Zealand 24
Tries: Isles
Convs: Hughes
Day Two and the Eagles drew Fiji in the quarters, a team they often handled relatively well. In a back-and-forth game that didn’t produce the tries you’d expect, Baker opened up with a try after two minutes. Fiji replied, but once again Baker was electric, giving his side a 12-7 lead early in the second half.
Martin Iosefo scored right off the restart, and Niua’s try sealed it.
USA 24 Fiji 14
Tries: Baker 2, Iosefo, Niua
Convs: Hughes 2
That put the Eagles into the semis against Australia. Baker once again got his side started early, and Leuta made it 12-0. But then the Eagles seemed to let off, and three quick tries for Australia around halftime made it 17-12 for the Aussies early in the second half.
It took a long time, but finally Stephen Tomasin tied it up with a minute to go.
The Eagles regained possession and slogged their way into the Australia half, got a penalty, and Niua tapped quickly. The flyhalf sold an outrageous dummy to slide through a gap and then passed off to Barrett, who barreled over a tackler to score in the corner.
Dramatic stuff, and the Eagles were in to the final against the only team that had beaten them, New Zealand.
USA 22 Australia 17
Tries: Baker, Leuta, Tomasin, Barrett
Convs: Hughes
And on to the final. New Zealand scored early and held that 7-0 lead through the first half. The Eagles, however, should have been ahead. Unlucky not to see New Zealand get a yellow card for a professional foul, the USA twice was right at the try line only for a poor pass or an inability to protect the ball gave possession away.
In the second half, it was the same story. Some nice passing put Stephen Tomasin in at the corner, but forcing the issue once again killed USA scoring chances and handed two relatively soft tries to New Zealand.
But, since Dubai has often been a tournament where the USA has struggled - the 12-hour time difference not helping - this was a massively improved Eagle performance in the desert.
Cup Final
USA 5 New Zealand 19
Tries: Tomasin
For New Zealand, it was a gritty performance as player after player went down with injury. The All Blacks Sevens didn’t have too many subs but battled through.
All of this matters a little bit more this season, as being in the top four in the World Series at the end of the season gets an automatic ticket to the 2020 Olympics. Starting off #2 isn't bad news at all.
England edged Australia for 3rd. Fiji took 5th in an overtime win over South Africa. Samoa took 9th over France (the Challenge Trohpy).