Dubai 7's: Eagles Recap, Analysis, and Three Stars of the Tournament

Despite ample preparation and lead in time, the Eagles 7's put in a disappointing performance in Dubai to finish in the Bowl semi-finals and a 1-4 record. In the two tournaments so far on the season the team is a combined 2-9 and sit last in last place among the core teams. While there is still time to turn around their season, the Eagles will need to change many aspects of their game if they hope to finish in the top 11 and a guaranteed place in next season's Series. While the wet conditions in Dubai didn't lend itself to beautiful rugby, the U.S. generated little on offense and leaked tries at crucial times. Most critically, despite have more time together as full-time professionals, the team has seemingly regressed since its positive performances last spring.

Take the jump to read more recap, analysis, and our three stars of the tournament.
The Matches

Since we've already done a thorough recap of day one, let's move straight on to day two.

U.S.A. 14-12 Spain: The beauty of 7's is that Day Two is always a new day. Even if you went 0-3 on first day, like the Eagles did, you can immediately turn around and go 3-0.  With that in their minds the Eagles took on Spain in the first match of the day. The match didn't start out well for the Eagles as they allowed Spain to get on the board only two minutes into the match. Zach Test was caught complaining to the official after a penalty at the breakdown and allowed the Spanish players to take a quite tap and run down the sideline for the score. It was a try the U.S. should have easily prevented.

Still, the Eagles crawled back. The sunnier conditions allowed the U.S. to connect on more of their passes and after some strong runs a long pass from Shalom Suniula found Nick Edwards for the try. It was a Suniula pass that set up the next U.S. try as well. With less than a minute remaining in the first half Suniula took a tap off a penalty and found Colin Hawley who broke through the defense for the score. The U.S. led 14-5 at the half for their third halftime lead of the tournament.

In the second half the U.S. had more of the possession but Spain was the first to score. Spain worked the ball out wide and a missed U.S. tackle allowed Marcos Poggi to score. After the conversion the score was 12-14 in favor of the Eagles. The U.S. then held on for the win.



U.S.A. 14-22 South Africa: With a win under their belt the U.S. went into the Bowl semi-final looking to make amends for a poor day one. However, they surrendered two quick tries to Cornal Hendricks and couldn't catch up to South Africa the rest of the match. The Eagles did have their chances, especially a golden opportunity at the end of the first half, but a lack of support thwarted that opportunity.

The U.S. did come out more aggressive in the second half and were rewarded with a try by Hawley. It was another good sequence set up by a key Suniula pass. However, three minutes later the Eagles allowed South Africa to pick up another try, putting them in a two score whole. They did manage to peg one back through a classic Carlin Isles try and did threaten at the end of the match, but a good team try by South Africa with only second remaining sealed the match. (Click here to read a more thorough recap.)



Analysis

Heading into the tournament Magleby had the team focus on things that would eliminate dropped balls and turnovers. This included running sharper lines, making smarter passes, etc. The Eagles by and large did none of these, which will have to disappoint Magleby. The tries they did score did come from executing these skills (Suniula was excellent with his passing), but it was few and far between. The rain did play a factor on day one but the other teams had the same conditions to deal with and the weather can't be blamed for the team's failings.

One thing that did significantly impact the team at the tournament was the enforcement of certain rules at the breakdown. Apparently at the request of several coaches the referees highly scrutinized rucks and teams were called for a plethora of penalties. The U.S. was slow to adapt to this interpretation while other teams were more quick to do so.

Finishing was also a concern. The Eagles had several opportunities to score tries only to lack support or to turnover the ball. In tight matches, which the team had all tournament, converting these opportunities could have been the difference between making the Cup quarterfinals and finishing where they did. The team had opportunities to win both the matches against France and Australia only to lose their first half leads to late tries. Another disappointing aspect of the day.

Normally we try to add some positive analysis but there really wasn't much to be positive about this tournament. The only thing we can think of is that next week is a new week and an opportunity to improve.

One of the biggest difficulties for this team is that they have few players that can truly be explosive. Besides Isles on offense, no other player seems to possess that magic which can help change a game. Luke Hume has that ability, but he was left off the tour due to his participation in the Eagles November tests. In our estimation that was the right call, but the team still lacked those difference makers. It's not just on offense as well; no one on the team has shown the propensity to be a crusher on defense a la Leonard Peters a few years ago.

The team is made up of good players, but do they have the ability to be  great players? When Magleby evaluates talent for the team he is looking at where the player can be in a couple of years. That is the right approach and it will cause growing pains along the way, but the core of this team has been together for several tournaments now without much improvement. The last time the team made a Cup quarterfinal was Dubai 2010. The last time they won the Bowl was Adelaide 2011. These players either need to begin to show improvement now or changes need to be made. That's may be harsh but that is the reality. The other teams on the series are also using younger players with an eye to 2016 and yet they are improving. We think the current players on the team are capable of regularly making the Cup quarterfinals and winning Bowls, but they need to make that leap now.

Three Stars of the Tournament

Not many players stood out for the Eagles at this tournament, but Matt Hawkins was by far the best player. He was one of the few players that seem to take the initiative on offense, as well as show aggression on defense. Carlin Isles also showed well when given his opportunity and has seemed to make quite an improvement.

*Matt Hawkins
**Shalom Suniula
***Carlin Isles