Second place four times in a row doesn't happen in international sevens, but the USA men's team has done it.

Reaching the final four times in a row has happened several times, notable last year when Fiji won four tournaments on the trot in a comeback that left them two points shy of the World Series title. But finishing second each time? That hasn't happened since the first four tournaments of the 2000-2001 season, when the Fijians accomplished the feat.

The USA is in that rarified company after losing the final of the Sydney 7s to New Zealand 21-5.

Pool Play

The Eagles dominated in pool play, as expected by the likes of Dallen Stanford.

They showed enormous patience against France, won 7-0 and were content, really, to keep France away from the tryline. The second pool game was a fairly complete performance against a young Kenyan team. Kenya didn't come close to scoring, and the power trio of Ben Pinkelman, Danny Barrett, and Martin Iosefo did the rest.

Head coach Mike Friday didn't even start his speedster, Carlin Isles, in that game, going for brute strength. it worked.

And finally against Canada, the Eagles gave up their first points of the tournament. However, those points were at the end of the game when the USA was in control. This time it was about pace against a big Canadian squad, and Isles strolled in for one and blew Canada away for two more. Kevon Williams, who has really emerged this season, got three as well.

Williams has shown an excellent ability to find a gap between two defenders, and his offload skills are there, too. Isles tends to attack on the outside, but Williams stays more infield, keeping defenses guessing.

Both of those pool games centered on the fact that the USA wins restarts. They score, and go back, win the ball, and score again. No one does it like the Eagles.

Knockout Rounds

Winning Pool B meant a meeting with Spain in the quarterfinals (again, as Stanford pointed out, the Eagles had a fortunate draw all weekend). There was nothing the Spanish could do as they couldn't match the Eagles' physicality, and this time Madison Hughes and Stephen Tomasin got the tries. Friday was holding out players to rest them and using them in games where it made the most send.

USA 38, Spain 10. And then on to the semis, where the USA held the ball for long periods, passing back and forth and trying to find space. It wasn't really there, and in fact Dan Norton punished a turnover to score from long range.

But the Eagles were once again patient. England keyed on Isles, so Isles passed and cleared out and floated around as a threat. Tomasin capped off a superb team effort led by Pinkelman, and Pink himself charged through for another. 14-7 at halftime, and the second half was a stalemate with no score.

RE:LIVE: They are joint top of the world series for a reason. @USARugby are producing the goods at the #Sydney7s #DHLRugby pic.twitter.com/VMgbEAOfIv

— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) February 2, 2019

The Final

Once again the USA tried to play keepaway, but New Zealand executed what was close to England's game plan just a little bit better. The Eagles perhaps missed Perry Baker in this game, but overall have done well to fill in during his absence.

What it all means

... is that the USA went into Sydney tied with Fiji for 1st in the World Series, and leave tied with New Zealand for 1st. Now four tournaments into a ten-tournament season, the USA, New Zealand, and Fiji are the top three, with a massive gap for the rest.

Yes the Americans would dearly love to win a tournament - such as the next one in Las Vegas, where they are champions - but tied for 1st in the World Series isn't bad at all. And in the chase for automatic Olympic qualification, those top three are in far, far better shape than anyone else.