USA Rugby Men’s Eagles Sevens & Hong Kong Sevens

The USA Rugby Men’s Eagles Sevens team won their Pool and entered day two of the tournament playing New Zealand in the Cup Quarterfinals. Sometimes it is difficult to sustain the momentum from the day before and that was the case in this match.

The USA vs. New Zealand

New Zealand jumped out to a 21-0 lead on the strength of three converted tries by Akuila Rokolisoa down the outside channel, Joe Ravouvou after a missed tackle, and Luke Masirewa after a turnover.

Good teams continue to keep the pressure on and New Zealand increased their lead to 28-0 after Akuila Rokolisoa’s second try. Carlin Isles then cut the lead to 28-7 with a try before Salesi Rayasi added a try for New Zealand to end the match with a 35-7 win.

The match against New Zealand also gave the team a concern as both Perry Baker and Danny Baker were removed from the game and ultimately the tournament for precautionary injury reasons.

USA vs. Scotland

Losing to New Zealand placed the USA in the 5th place semi-final against Scotland. Martin Iosefo found a gap and offloaded to Matai Leuta to take a 5-0 lead. The team increased the lead to 12-0 off a Carlin Isles try before the break.

In the second half, Stephen Tomasin went through the defense to increase the lead to 19-0 to apparently seal the win. Scotland then woke up in the closing minutes with three unconverted tries by Darcy Graham, Mark McFarland, and George Horne to lose 19-15.

USA vs. Argentina

The win against Scotland set the team up for a rematch of the Pool win against Argentina. There was a difference in player availability as Malon Al-jiboori joined the team, however, there would only be a roster of 11 players for the match with both Baker and Barrett unavailable.

Argentina jumped out to a 14-0 lead as Matias Osadczuk and Santiago Alvarez Fourcade added tries. Carlin Isles escaped a tackle to add a try prior to the break to narrow the lead to 14-5.

Early in the second half, Maka Unufe left the game with an injury. Isles added a second try, his 7th of the tournament, tying him for the tournament lead. It also narrowed the lead to 14-12.

Argentina’s German Schultz was sent to the bin, but a knock on by Kevon Williams and an offload error by Iosefo prevented two scoring chances, with the match ending in Argentina’s favor.

The USA obtained good news that both Baker and Barrett could resume training in advance of the Singapore Sevens, while it was too early to evaluate Unufe.

The USA maintained 6th place in the HSBC Sevens Series standings but now are within 4 points of 5th place Australia.

Men’s Eagles Sevens Traveling Roster Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens
1. Carlin Isles. 2. Ben Pinkelman (C) 3. Danny Barrett 4. Matai Leuta 5. Brett Thompson 6. Chris Mattina 7. Folau Niua 8. Maka Unufe 9. Stephen Tomasin 10. Kevon Williams 11. Perry Baker 12. Martin Iosefo 13. Malon Al-Jiboori

Men’s Eagles Sevens Staff Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens
Head Coach – Mike Friday
Strength & Conditioning Coach – Jon Hood
Physiotherapist – Brian Green
Team Manager – Scott Novack

Men’s Eagles Sevens Schedule – Pool D Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens