Gold Coast 7's: Eagles Recap, Stats, & Three Stars

The Eagles at the NACRA 7's

Going into the Gold Coast 7's and the first IRB Seven Series event of the year, Eagles 7's head coach Alex Magleby wasn't worried about what opponents the team would play, only that they showed improvement from their performance at the NACRA 7's. Despite showing flashes, the team largely fell flat and finished as Shield runners-up. Take the jump to read match re-caps, analysis, player stats, and our three stars.


Day 1

New Zealand 19-7 United States: The day actually started out well for the Eagles. They made New Zealand work for their first two tries, and after a fantastic try by debutant Carlin Isles, the Eagles were within a converted try with most of the second half to play. The All Blacks put up another try to seal the match. Even though the Eagles lost the match, they had to feel good about playing the kind of defense they had practiced, as well as taking a well executed try. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.

South Africa 33-5: After having a decent amount of success, Magleby trotted out the same lineout as in the New Zealand match: Palefau, Suniula, Test, Hawkins, Hume, Enosa, and Unufe. That lineup paid immediate dividends as match Hawkins scored a try just a little more than a minute into the match to give the Eagles an early 5-0 lead. Even though South Africa managed to take the lead through  a Tshotsho Mbovance try and conversion by Branco du Preez shortly before halftime, the Eagles looked competitive and in the match. However, it started to go downhill from their as South Africa scored early and often in the second half. du Preez, Chris Dry, Kyle Brown, and Paul Delport all scored second half tries to give the Blitzbokke a 33-5 win. The Eagles were simply starved of the ball in the second half.

United States 21-22 Canada: Having lost their first two matches, the Eagles were destined for the Bowl quarterfinals, but their seeding in that competition would be decided in their match against Canada. A win might see them with an easier road to the Bowl, while a loss could mean a tougher opponent. Things didn't start off well for the Eagles as Sean Duke scored a try less than thirty seconds into the match. Ciaran Hearn then added a second just over a minute later to give Canada a 12-0 lead with just over two minutes gone. It then got worse for the Eagles as Chauncey O'Toole extended the lead to 17. However, Maka Unufe pulled one back for the Eagles, followed by a rare penalty try to pull the Eagles back within five. Things further seemed to be going their way when Harry Jones was sin binned at the end of the half. As the second half started, Duke scored his second of the match to give a 22-14 lead. From then on the Eagles kept pushing for the two scores necessary to win. Hume's try with two minutes left and subsequent conversion by Tai Enosa pulled the Eagles within in one, but that was how the match would end.

Going winless in the pool meant that the Eagles would play Wales in the Bowl quarterfinals. To further compound this, both Shalom Suniula and Peter Dahl picked up injuries. Suniula would miss the rest of the weekend, while Dahl would have limited minutes.

Day 2

Wales 27-19 United States: It was always going to be a tough task for the Eagles to beat Wales, but it look entirely possible when Luke Hume broke through the defense for a great try just over a minute into the match.  The lead was short-lived however as Richard Smith and Tom Williams scored for Wales. However, Brett Thompson's try shortly before the hooter gave the Eagles a strong and surprising 14-12 lead at halftime. Things only got better in the second half as Maka Unufe took the opening kickoff and ran it in for a very nice try and a nine point lead. Wales pushed back to get a try of their own but the conversion was missed once again and the Eagles held a five point lead. Even when Lee Williams scored to give Wales a three point lead it looked like the Eagles were more than capable of winning the match. However, some bad handling errors gift Wales a game-sealing try. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.

United States 33-26 Tonga: With four straight losses and now in the Shield competition, the Eagles were looking for something positive. As such, in their match against Tonga, Thompson was promoted to the starting lineup at the expense of Test. Isles continued to start for the injured Suniula. The Isles substitution paid immediate dividends as he burned the Tongan defense for an early strike for the Eagles. Luke Hume then followed up with another before Tonga pulled two tried back before half to take a 14-12 lead. The second half didn't start off well for the Eagles as Tonga ran in a quick try to end their lead. However, it was all U.S. from then on out. Isles bagges his second of the match, while Unufe and Enosa added one a piece. Tonga scored a try well after the hooter had gone to make the score more even. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.

Scotland 40-5 United States: With the momentum gained against Tonga and the opportunity to pick up silverware, the Eagles should have come out ready to play against Scotland in the Shield final. Instead, the Eagles were put on the back foot immediately, and never saw the ball as Scotland ran in four first half tries to lead 26-0. It only got worse in the second half, often in almost comical fashion as the Eagles kept coughing up the ball and feeding Scotland for an easy try. The Scots put in two more tries before the Eagles were able to finally maintain possession and put in a late score courtesy of Rocco Mauer. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.

Analysis

The Good: In all honesty, there wasn't a lot of good to take out of this tournament. As was mentioned, all Magleby wanted from his team this tournament was to take care of the ball, stay patient, and show improvement. While they did that at times (New Zealand match) they didn't do it enough. If there were some elements of their play to highlight, it would be that they are excellent in the lineout. Several of their tries came from well executed lineouts that would create space for Isles or another speedy player out wide. Another positive element of their play was the kicking game. Of the ten tries the team scored at the tournament, seven of them were converted. These conversions often kept the team in matches, especially when their opponents struggled at this portion of the game.

One of the reasons why their opponents missed several conversions was due to the Eagles defense. Giving up some of the scores that they did, it wouldn't seem like the Eagles play decent defense, but for for large stretches they did. Don't misunderstand, they were wretched at times on defense, but there were several moments of truly outstanding defensive play. Matt Hawkins was good in the tackle and Isles was incredibly aggressive.

The Bad: There was a lot that didn't go right for the Eagles in the match. First and foremost was their ability to keep possession and limit their turnovers. They weren't as effective in restarts as they would have liked to have been, leading to cheap tries for other teams. Even more surprising was the panic that seemed to set in with a lot of player during the tournament. Having the players centrally contracted was supposed to eradicate simple errors are the players got more time together. However, it seemed to have the opposite effect at times as players carelessly lost the ball at the breakdown. At one point the tackled player tried to throw the ball back to the incoming support only to have the ball bounce off the support players face and in to touch. Players weren't really as organized as they could have been. Some veterans on the team looked like they had taken their place for granted and didn't put in the effort they should have.

The most frustrating thing about the Eagles performance in the Gold Coast was the lack of consistency. It's hard to believe that the team that played against New Zealand--one that was organized and played great defense--could be the same team that was absolutely manhandled by Scotland. Maybe that lack of consistency had to do with Suniula's absence after only two matches, but mostly it seemed the team turns off too frequently between matches.

Another poor aspect of the teams performance was their offensive output. The team only scored 12 tries all tournament, or 2tries per match. That isn't going to win you many matches anywhere, let alone of the Series. The whole point of sevens is that the players on the pitch have ample room in which to break free and score. The fact that the team couldn't do that comes back down to errors and lack of possession.

Takeaway

Only picking up two points in the tournament is worrying, but what is more worrying is the fact that the team regressed and did not do what coach Magleby asked them to do. For weeks, months, they have worked on keeping possession and not being careless with the ball. So, to do that in the first tournament of the season has to send up warning signs. This is a good group of players with good skill, but they are going to have to figure out how to come together as a team is they want to succeed. They have just a little over a month before they do it all again in Dubai and South Africa. If the team is still in the same predicament after those two tournaments, there may have to be serious discussions.

Three Stars

*Carlin Isles
**Tai Enosa
***Matt Hawkins

Name	GP	GS	Try	Conv.
Carlin Isles	5	4	3
Mike Palefau	5	6
Peter Dahl	3	-
Shalom Suniula	2	2
Zach Test	6	3
Matt Hawkins	5	6	1
Rocco Mauer	3	-	1
Luke Hume	5	6	3	2
Mike Teo	5	-
Tai Enosa	5	6	1	5
Brett Thompson	5	3
Maka Unufe	5	6	2
Total	6	6	12*	7

 *Penalty Try