Eagles 7s Advance to Cup Quarterfinals at Singapore 7s

April 15, 2017

Eagles 7s Advance to Cup Quarterfinals at Singapore 7s

Photo: Martin Seras Lima

Doug Coil

The USA Men’s Eagles earned their fifth consecutive Cup Quarterfinals appearance at the HSBC Singapore Sevens on Saturday. They entered the Series in fifth place in the standings.

After the Pool phase of play ended on Saturday, the Eagles Sevens finished 2-1 to finish second in Pool D to New Zealand. This will set up a Cup Quarterfinal match against Fiji.

The USA began pool play with a 35-19 win over Wales and was followed by a 33-26 win over Scotland. This secured a quarterfinal berth with the remaining match against New Zealand to determine seeding and who would meet Fiji or Canada in the Quarterfinals.

Early in the match, Perry Baker was injured and needed to be replaced. New Zealand took a 14-0 lead into the break before taking a 21-14 win.

USA v Wales

Perry Baker scored two tries in the Men’s Eagles Sevens 35-19 win over Wales at HSBC Singapore Sevens Saturday. Captain Madison Hughes earned 10 points in converting all five of the U.S.’s tries.

Wales won the opening restart, but Folau Niua caused a turnover with a tackle and quickly found Perry Baker with a pass. Baker did the rest, running through two defenders for a try and a 7-0 lead.

Martin Iosefo claimed the restart and offloaded to Andrew Durutalo who fended a defender before grounding the ball for a try to increase the lead to 14-0.

Wales added points at the fifth minute when Morgan Williams broke a tackle for a try. Danny Barrett saved a second try in the seventh minute, with a tackle that made James Benjamin lose the ball forward when attempting to ground the ball.

The Eagles won the set piece at the five-meter line, and Niua executed a dummy and created space for Baker to sprint for a 95 meter try. Hughes added his third conversion to lead 21-5 at the break.

The USA claimed the second half restart and cycled the ball from side to side. Martin Iosefo then found Stephen Tomasin running a switch for a try under the posts. Maka Unufe won the ensuing restart and Tomasin reached the 22 before Unufe beat his opposite number for a try and a 35-5 advantage.

Friday then emptied his the bench for the final four minutes of play Wales scoring two tries following the Eagles’ final try. They would concede two tries by Owen Land and Ben Roach, with McBryde converting both, to bring the final to 35-19.

USA v Scotland

The Men’s Eagles Sevens qualified for their fifth consecutive HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Cup Quarterfinals Saturday with a 33-26 defeat of Scotland at The National Stadium in Kallang, Singapore.

Perry Baker and Stephen Tomasin added first half tries for a 12-12 score at halftime and then both added another as the Eagles Sevens won 33-26 over Scotland.

Scotland took the early lead as Scott Wight grounded the ball for a 5-0 lead. Martin Iosefo then tipped a high bouncing ball into Baker’s hands as the Eagles took a 7-5 lead. Danny Barrett won the restart and Stephen Tomasin increased the lead to 12-5.

Scotland then leveled the score after the hooter as Mark Robinson went in for a try to level the match at 12 all after the conversion by Wight.

The Eagles Sevens began the second half with a nearly full pitch try. Baker had an early run and offloaded to Martin Iosefo at midfield. Iosefo then found Folau Niua, who offloaded to Stephen Tomasin for a try. Danny Barrett then added a try for a 26-12 lead, after picking up a loose ball on from the restart.

Scotland came back to narrow the gap to 26-19 when Blair Kinghorn chased down an attack by Tomasin and after Scotland gained possession, found Jamie Farndale for a try. Baker then added his second try after a Niua kick downfield and Baker chased and went in for a try.

Farndale added one last try for Scotland after time expired to end the match 33-26 in the Eagles’ favor.

USA v New Zealand

Folau Niua kicked to begin the match as Joe Revouvou won the challenge against Perry Baker for the ball. While Revouvou advanced the ball, Baker was shaken up on the play. Danny Barrett won a lineout, the ball went wide to Baker who was defended well by New  Zealand, before he lost the ball forward. After the ensuing scrum to New Zealand, a Regan Ware offload to Sam Dickson resulted in his 50th try. Vilimoni Koroi converted for a 7-0 lead. Perry Baker left the pitch and Maka Unufe replaced him.

New Zealand claimed the restart and Barrett dragged out Koroi before he crossed the try line. New Zealand stole the USA 5 meter lineout, but Unufe caused a turnover at the breakdown when Rovouvou was cited for not releasing. Soon after New Zealand went back on the attack with Martin Iosefo tackling Joe Rouvouvou at the try line. A TMO ruled that Rovouvou’s foot went into touch prior to him grounding the ball and a try was disallowed.

The lineout at the USA 5 meters was batted back by Koroi and spun wide to Rovouvou who offloaded to Regan Ware for a try in the corner. Koroi converted again for a 14-0 New Zealand lead at the break.

Koroi kicked the second half restart deep in-goal leading to an Eagles Sevens free kick at midfield. After some quick back and forth of possession, Martin Iosefo drew a penalty for New Zealand not releasing at the breakdown. Folau Niua took a quick tap and hit Barrett, who sliced in for a try. Madison Hughes added a conversion and the Eagles narrowed the score to 14-7 with four minutes remaining.

The complexion of the match quickly changed as Regan Ware evaded the outstretched arms of Mikey Te’o for a try. Beaudein Waaka converted and the lead was 21-7.

The  Eagles Sevens went on a last attack as Martin Iosefo weaved his way around defenders before Andrew Durutalo could not handle a pass. Soon after, the Eagles regained possession and Durutalo drew a penalty after not being released at the breakdown. This led to a Folau Niua offload to Te’o for a try. Niua converted to end the match at 21-14.

With the win, New Zealand won Pool D and will face Canada in the Cup Quarterfinals on Sunday. The USA finished second in the Pool and will face Fiji in the Cup Quarterfinals at 12:30am ET.