2018 RWC7s Championship 5th Place Final

After beating Scotland 28-0 in the 5th place Rugby World Cup 7s semifinal, the USA completed the tournament in 6th place after a 33-7 loss to Argentina.

In the round of 16, the USA Men’s Eagles defeated Wales 35-0 and then lost to England 24-19 in extra time in a Rugby World Cup 7s Championship Quarterfinal.

USA v Argentina Recap

Argentina claimed the opening restart. After a strong USA defense, Argentina executed a crosskick and on the tackle, the USA was penalized. At the breakdown, Santiago Mare went blind for a try and a 5-0 lead.

Perry Baker was sent to the bin for knocking the ball forward on the intercept. A penalty try was awarded, increasing Argentina’s lead to 12-0.

From a scrum to the USA, Madison Hughes broke to midfield. A loose ball was chipped ahead by Franco Sabato, who then gathered the ball for a try. Gaston Revol then converted pushing the lead to 19-0 at the break.

The first half was not indicative of how the USA has played throughout the tournament. USA errors led to Argentina scorers. The second half will need quick improvement to pull out the match.

Second Half

Argentina continued their momentum as Matias Alvarez scored a try through the wide left channel and Revol converted increasing the lead to 26-0.

The USA captured the restart and Maka Unufe went into contact. After a couple of phases, the Eagles attacked from a scrum and promptly lost forward for a scrum to Argentina. The Eagles were penalized for a hand in the ruck. Argentina attacked right and then left with Marcos Moroni cutting inside a USA defender for a try. Lautaro Bazan Velez converted for a 33-0 lead.

Martin Iosefo in the closing seconds finally got the USA onboard with a try and Stephen Tomasin converted making the final score 33-7.

With the loss, the USA finished in 6th place at the Rugby World Cup 7s.

Men’s Eagles 7s: 1 Carlin Isles 2 Ben Pinkelman 3 Danny Barrett 4 Matei Leuta 5 Brett Thompson 6 Kevon Williams 7 Folau Niua 8 Maka Unufe 9 Stephen Tomasin 10 Madison Hughes (C) 11 Peter Baker 12 Martin Iosefo + HC Mike Friday (Starters Bolded)

Argentina: 1 Maximo Provenzano 2 German Schultz 3 Conrado Roura 4 Marcos Moroni 5 Santiago Mare 6 Santiago Alvarez 7 Lautaro Bazan Velez 8 Gaston Raol 9 Matias Osadczuk 10 Mateo Carreras 11 Luciano Gonzalez 12 Franco Sabato + HC Santiago Gomez Cora (Starters Bolded)