The USA Men’s Falcons started day two of the men’s competition at the 2020 McDonald’s Coral Coast 7s losing to Shangri-La’s 20-12 in the Bowl Quarterfinals. This set up a Shield Semi-final match against the Outriggers and they emerged with their first win, 24-7. They then faced Henibua in the Shield Final, losing 17-12.
The team gained valuable experience, but handling errors and elapses on defense had them not finishing after a couple of leads over teams.
The Falcons opened pool play at the on January 16 with a 21-21 draw against Natadra in Sigatoka, Fiji at Lawaqa Park. The team then faced Tadadamu losing 28-19 after two comeback tries. The final match against the Stallions was moved up a day due to weather conditions and the Falcons lost a defensive battle 7-0 to finish fourth in their pool.
The tournament featured 44 invitational teams in men’s, women’s and youth events with a total of 16 teams make up the men’s sector.
Senior USA Men’s Sevens assistant coach Phil Greening was the head coach of the Falcons at the Coral Coast Sevens.
Bowl Quarterfinal: USA Falcons 12-20 Shangri-La’s
The Shangri-La’s used three tries to open a 15-0 lead over the Falcons during the first half. The Falcons answered back with two tries and a conversion by Mikey Te’o to cut the lead to 15-12. A try by the Shangri-La’s on the final play made the Bowl Quarterfinal a 20-12 loss.
Shield Semi-Final: USA Falcons 24-7 Outriggers
The USA Falcons won their first match of the 2020 Coral Coast Sevens 24-7 over the Outriggers. With the win, the team will play in the Shield Final in their final match of the tournament.
Shield Final: USA Falcons 12-17 Henibua
The USA Falcons scored two tries in the match against Henibua, one by Mikey Te’o and the other by Lauina Falatea. Mikey Te’o also had one conversion. The Falcons finished in 14th pace at the Coral Coast Sevens.
Squad
USA Men’s Falcons: 1 Anthony Welmers (Prop, USA Sevens) 2 Lauina Falatea (Prop, USA Sevens) 3 Gavan D’Amore Morrison (Prop, Old Blue, Rugby United NY) 4 Tohi Angilau (Center, USA Sevens) 5 Joe Schroeder (Prop, USA Sevens) 6 Malon Al-Jiboori (Prop, USA Sevens) 7 Cody Melphy (C) 8 Maceo Brown (Center, USA Sevens) 9 Mikey Te’o (Halfback, USA Sevens, San Diego Legion) 10 Faitala Talapusi (Halfback, USA Sevens) 11 Aaron Gray (Center/Wing, Kutztown University) 12 Malacchi Esdale (Center/Wing, Houston SaberCats)
USA MEN’S FALCONS STAFF
Head Coach Phil Greening
Assistant Coach / Team Manager Brendan Keane
Performance Analyst Dave Gardner
Athletic Trainer Danielle Iosefo
2020 McDonald’s Fiji CORAL COAST SEVENS SCHEDULE & Results
Pool C: Preview Article
- vs Natadra 21-21 Draw
- vs Tabadamu 19-28 L
- vs Stallions 0-7 L
- USA Falcons Pool Recap
Knockout Stages
- Bowl Quarterfinals vs Shangri-La’s 12-20 L
Follow @USARugby on Twitter, Instagram Story and Facebook Story for score updates, matchups and timings. LIVE Stream available at facebook.com/fijiscoralcoast7s.
COMPETITION FORMAT
The top two teams in each pool progress to the Cup Quarterfinals where the bottom two teams will enter the Bowl Quarterfinals.
Teams who win their quarterfinals will advance to the Cup or Bowl semifinals and finals.
Those who lose their Cup Quarterfinals will play in the plate semifinal while those who lose their Bowl Quarterfinals will play in the 13th place semifinals and final.
