It was a disappointing way to end what has been a landmark season for the team and Magleby's time as head coach. While they started the year slowly, the team did end up making five of the nine cup rounds on the Series and picked up multiple Plate wins. They did flirt with relegation for much of the season but when it counted they came up big to avoid having to play for their spot on next year's Series. Much of that turnaround belongs to Magleby. He got the team to buy into his program and he proved to be the right coach at the right time. Who ever comes along to replace him will certainly have a challenge in filling his shoes but will also inherit a program that is on an all-time high.
Take the jump to see recap, analysis, and the three stars of the tournament.
The Matches
U.S.A. 26-19 Georgia: With only the pool winners and the top two second place teams advancing to the Cup round the Eagles needed a big result against Georgia if they were going to have any chance of achieving their goal. It looked as if they would get that big result early as Colin Hawley scored less than a minute into the match. Georgia did get a very nice try of their own in the first half but more tries from Zach Test, Nick Edwards, and Folau Niua gave the U.S. a 26-7 lead at halftime. But the second have was the reverse of the first with Georgia controlling possession and putting the Eagles on their back foot. While Georgia's two tries weren't enough to overcome the Eagles, they were enough to put a significant dent in the Eagles Cup round hopes. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.
U.S.A. 14-15 Canada: The Eagles Cup round hopes took an even bigger blow on day two as the team lost a must-win match against Canada. The U.S. fell behind early when Phil Mack scored quickly after the opening kickoff. Sean Duke would increase the Canadian lead a few minutes later to 10-0. Although starved of possession, the U.S. would score a little later as some great passing sprung Edwards for the try. Still, like they have been all year, Canada were too much and in the second half Duke scored his second try of the day to increase Canada's lead to 15-7. Brett Thompson was eventually able to score to cut the lead to one but the team committed to many errors at the end and couldn't get the score they needed. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.
U.S.A. 19-26 New Zealand: The U.S. technically could have advanced to the Cup round had they beaten the All Blacks and gotten help elsewhere. Throughout the first half it looked as if they would hold up their end of that scenario as they got off to a flying start. The All Blacks scored first to take a 5-0 lead but some brilliant play from the U.S. allowed Nick Edwards and Matt Hawkins to give the team a 12-5 lead. It would increase a little later when Edwards picked up his second try of the match. The U.S. led 19-5 shortly into the second half. But then the wheels fell apart and New Zealand being who they are took advantage of the U.S. mistakes and put in a penalty try and tries from Tim Mikkelson and David Raikuna to get the win. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.
U.S.A. 5-28 Argentina: The U.S. qualified for the Plate round as the top third place team and that gave them a match-up with Argentina, the lowest second place team, on day three. Unfortunately for the Eagles they didn't get the effort they needed and crashed out of the tournament. Niua was sent to the bin three minutes into the match and Argentina was able to capitalize to take the team. Test would bring the score back to 7-5 but that was all the Eagles would get as Argentina dominated possession from then on and scored at will to earn their big victory. Click here to read a more in-depth recap.
Analysis
So what went wrong for the team? The first thing that went wrong was that by and large the team didn't play with the sense of urgency that was needed for this type of tournament. On the IRB Sevens Series every match counts, but at the 7's RWC every moment counts. The Eagles couldn't afford to drift out during matches but that is exactly what they did. The second half against Georgia, the opening minutes against Canada, and the entire match against Argentina. The U.S. needed to be sharp and to know that try scoring would be at a premium. The didn't score as many tries as they needed to and when they did they didn't hustle back to try to score more.
Second, the offensive sharpness that the Eagles had during the last few months was missing. That could possibly come down to the long layoff the team faced between tournaments. The European teams had their Grand Prix events while teams from Oceania participated in a couple of tournaments. The U.S. didn't have that luxury and it seemed to cost them. The team only brought in three different players and none of them were new to the team so getting everyone on the same page shouldn't have been a problem. But by and large passing and proper channel running weren't there. Too often the team got the ball standing still and against teams like Georgia and New Zealand, they are going to force you back.
The U.S. did do some things well during the tournament, they just didn't do them consistently enough to win. Winning restarts was something they were effective at doing. They also had a decent time at the breakdown when they put in the effort. Players like Test and Hawley showed a lot of leadership and played with the urgency that the team require. That was evidenced with Test scoring a try against Georgia but immediately running back to get ready to score more tries. But it was a total team effort and not enough players stepped up to make a difference.
The team will now take a long rest before the Gold Coast 7's. This disappointing performance shouldn't lead to calls for massive changes to the team, but it should serve as a wake-up call for the Olympics and Olympic qualification. Those two events are going to be even more pressure packed and the U.S. will have to bring their best effort to not only ensuring their qualification for the Olympics but strong play in the Games.
Three Stars
*Zach Test
**Colin Hawley
***Matt Hawkins
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