The Sevens World Series tournaments can get weird—cruel weird and sometimes charitable weird.
In the Vancouver 7s, Canada finished 2-1 in its pool, but didn’t make the Cup Quarterfinals because of the tiebreaker. In Hong Kong, the USA finished 1-2 in its pool, and still made the top eight.
A Welsh loss to Spain and the fact that the Eagles were close in their defeats averted a minor disaster.
“We did make things hard for ourselves in both the Wales game and the England game,” USA head coach Mike Friday lamented. “In the Wales game we were slightly off, but we got control of the game and if Marty scores that try the game is done.”
Friday is referring to Martin Iosefo going into the corner only to have the ball knocked loose at the last moment. “We didn’t score, and that momentum moment gave Wales hope, and they managed to take advantage of it.”
Wales also got a little help from the referee. Afon Bagshaw clearly hit Stephen Tomasin after the whistle, and exacerbated that by jumping on the supine Tomasin and grabbing at his neck. It was a yellow card offense (at least) on any field in any match, and yet referee Jordan Wray just shrugged and moved on.
This man is having a great time.@ToddsClever pic.twitter.com/Qav90cc0HS
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 7, 2019
“It was a clear yellow under sevens interpretations for a late hit after the whistle has gone,” Friday said.
As for England, it’s tough to win when you fall behind by three tries.
“We gave them a head start before we asserted ourselves,” Friday said. “It was all down to little indecisions and errors. But, I was very pleased with how we got back into the game and the collective belief and application to do that. Unfortunately, we were the victims of a clear referee error for the Marcus yellow card, which unfortunately again took all the momentum and possession away from us where we were in complete control of the game.”
Marcus Tupuola got a yellow card for not releasing the tackled player on a cover tackle, and that didn’t help, either.
“On another day all of that would have cost us a place in the Cup Quarters,” Friday said. “But the rugby gods shined on us and we finally got ourselves a bit of luck on a day where nothing else seemed to go in our favor.”
What happened on the next day wasn’t exactly luck. By the end of the day, Iosefo was out with an injury; Folau Niua had massive cramps in his extremely muscular calves; and Madison Hughes, who had played the entire weekend while fighting off a virus, was benched due to exhaustion.
And somehow they beat South Africa, lost a close one to Fiji, and then beat Samoa to finish third. Carlin Isles scoring a record number of tries for the Hong Kong 7s didn't hurt.
The @HSBC_Sport Dream Team for #HK7s is:
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 7, 2019
Tofatu Solia ??
Tavite Veredamu ??
Meli Derenalagi ??
Jerry Tuwai ??
Gabin Villiere ??
Carlin Isles ??
Johnny Vaili ?? pic.twitter.com/BVKN9mS4is
“On Sunday I was confident if we could tighten up on the indecision and accuracy; the determination and attitude was definitely there,” Friday said. “We knew we would have to up the intensity in the contact area and our physical intent against South Africa. We did that as a group exceptionally well on day three.”
What also became evident was that the players replacing the injured players are coming to the fore. Joe Schroeder scored a nice try. Brett Thompson made himself felt in a variety of aspects. Tupuola and Maceo Brown had big moments. But the player who took added responsibility was Kevon Williams.
The former New Mexico Highlands University star was thrown in as halfback and playmaker, and he was superb against Samoa.
The 2019 #HSBC7s series standings look like this with three events to go!
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) April 7, 2019
Remember, top four get automatic qualification to #Tokyo2020 @Olympics pic.twitter.com/B0hnqp6dF8
“We were able to give the less experienced guys the opportunity to step up, and didn’t they just do that," Friday said. “Kevon took ownership of leading the inexperienced backline. All are doing well and adding value whether they start or come in. It bodes well for competition for places and helps players like Marcus, Maceo, and Ben Broselle for post-2020 experience and keeping the momentum in the program.”
Don’t expect major changes for Singapore. While Perry Baker, Danny Barrett, and possibly Maka Unufe could be ready to play in London and Paris, they won’t be in Singapore. It will be down to this lot, and Friday is fine with that.