Despite being in almost a rebuilding mode, the USA women’s 7s team is on a run of superb results of late, and somehow sits 2nd in the Sevens World Series.

This weekend in Sydney, head coach Chris Brown pulled the string nicely, mixing in power with pace to beat a variety of opponents.

Against China it was ball movement and patience, with three second-half tries turning a disturbingly close game into a 26-10 victory.

Against Spain, it was the same old problems - penalties. For some reason, the Eagles tend to give up penalties against Spain, and get burned by quick taps. This happened again in pool play and put Spain through with a 21-14 win after the Eagles led 14-7.

Against Australia, it was determination. 

In a must-win situation against one of the circuit’s best, they exploded, using Jordan Gray-Matyas and Cheta Emba to power through, and Naya Tapper along with the breakout Kristi Kirshe to run out 19-0 leaders and hold on 19-12.

A little luck never hurts

So to the quarterfinals, where sometimes you need a bit of luck. Russia put a stranglehold on the game, as they can do, and led 5-0 going into the final moments. Gray-Matyas took matters into her own hands, and thundered through a pile of Russian bodies. She offloaded to Emba, who did the rest under the posts - 7-5 win for the Eagles.

Was that last pass forward? It was certainly very close, and referees have called back similar passes. But the try stood, and the USA was into the semifinals.

The speed and ball movement of New Zealand remains a bit of a mystery to everyone in the World Series, and so it was for the USA. The Black Ferns scored three tries in the first half and cruised. Only Lauren Doyle’s try at the end of the game spoiled the shutout.

3rd still a medal

Meanwhile, Australia had made the final by beating Ireland - New Zealand would go on to win that Gold Medal match 34-10. For the USA, a third-place match against Ireland was a welcome thing. Ireland has been playing some inspired sevens, but doesn’t have the variety of attacking options, especially the size, that the USA has.

Kris Thomas scored in the opening minute, and in the last moment of the first half, Kirshe once again was in the middle of it all and scored two, and the Eagles took 3rd 26-10.

The USA did most of this without their leading scorer, Ilona Maher, who picked up an ankle injury on Day One. They did it with a squad shakeup and a still-new coach., and the result is that the Eagles are ranked #2 in the world.

With Canada failing to make the Cup Semis, they fall to 3rd, tied with Australia. And then there’s a massive gap before you get to 5th-place France.

We are halfway through the Women’s Sevens World Series in an Olympic Qualifier year, and if the Eagles can stay in the top six in each of the next three tournaments, they likely will have booked a spot for Tokyo 2020.

Michaela Blyde was the player of the tournament, and the New Zealander has built her offload game to add to her ability to beat defenders. She is the full package, as is the entire New Zealand squad.