March 3, 2017
Eagles 7s Move to Cup Quarterfinals with Win Over Chile
Doug Coil
The USA Men’s Eagles 7s are on to the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – USA Sevens Cup Quarterfinals after beating Chile 31-0 in pool play to go 2-0. They play England in the final pool match on Saturday at 3:24pm PT (12:24 ET)
Perry Baker caught the opening restart by Folau Niua and the Eagles went on the attack. An errant pass brought Stephen Tomasin into touch. The Chile attack did not last long as they were penalized at the breakdown and Niua kicked for territory. The ensuing lineout was knocked on and the USA pressured the Chile attack creating a turnover. Martin Iosefo then went in for the try and a 5-0 lead.
On the restart, the USA retained possession and an offload by Madison Hughes to Iosefo resulted in his second try. Hughes converted and the lead was 12-0.
A Stephen Tomasin cross kick to Ben Pinkelman drew in a defender and allowed Danny Barrett to find space for a try in the corner and Madison Hughes converted from touch to take a 19-0 lead at halftime.
To begin the second half, Perry Baker thrilled the crowd doing spin move after spin move before the ball was knocked forward after a pass near the Chile 22 meters , thus thwarting a potential score.
Madison Hughes then sustained an injury and was replaced by Matai Leuta. Shortly after Stephen Tomasin found a gap and went in for a try, which he then converted to increase the lead to 26-0.
The Eagles retained possession on the restart and Ben Pinkelman added a try from a breakdown near the try line. With a 31-0 lead the match was well in hand and the Eagles will advance to the Cup quarterfinals later Saturday after they finish their pool match against England.
Men’s Eagles Sevens – HSBC USA Sevens
1. Pat Blair 2. Ben Pinkelman 3. Danny Barrett 4. Matai Leuta 5. Walt Elder 6. Andrew Durutalo 7. Folau Niua 8. Maka Unufe 9. Stephen Tomasin 10. Madison Hughes (C) 11. Perry Baker 12. Martin Iosefo
Men’s Eagles Sevens – HSBC USA Sevens
v. Samoa – W26-5
v. Chile – W31-0
v. England – Saturday, March 4 @ 7:24 p.m. ET
