USA Women 2nd in Hamilton; 3rd in Standings
The USA women made a massive move toward securing an automatic berth in the 2024 Olympics with a second place finish in he Hamilton 7s.
Perhaps it was no surprise that the hosts New Zealand won it all, and were in sterling form in the final, taking the Eagles down 33-7, but the USA women had already leaped over significant hurdles.
Defensive Pressure, Nifty Passing See Eagle Women 3-0 in Hamilton
Quarterfinals
Against a Fiji team that has some significant offensive ability the USA wisely worked to control possession. It took some time for the Eagles to get into scoring position, but that was OK as each phase put Fiji under pressure and, eventually, led to a yellow card for preventing a quick tap.
USA Men Win Pool But Questions Remain
Two wins and one tie were enough to see the USA men's national 7s team into the Cup Quarterfinals in Hamilton, NZ and keep their streak of good results going.
It wasn't all smooth sailing, however, as the Eagles were pushed a little bby Japan and a world class conversion kick from Stephen Tomasin to remain unbeaten.
As it was the Americans won their pool, which set them up to face a very good Australia team in the quarterfinals.
LA Sevens Tickets On Sale Now>>
What the USA hopefully learned from the day was that you can't lose focus, even for a second, and certainly not when you're in danger of getting carried away with the idea of scoring.
Defensive Pressure, Nifty Passing See Eagle Women 3-0 in Hamilton
The USA Women's 7s team went 3-0 in the Hamilton 7s, putting themselves in excellent position to once again reach the podium.
Despite the fact that the attack still isn't firing quite as well as it could, the Eagle game is working thanks to a hardworking defense and just enough special moments.
USA 31 Spain 12
Against Spain, a team that often causes the Eagles won fairly comfortably. They won it mostly thanks to pressure defense that got so into the Spanish minds that they started to make silly errors.
The USA opened with a Cheta Emba try that featured a series of offloads from Emba to Sam Sullivan to Kristi Kirshe, and back to Emba to finish it off.
Emba scored another, followed by a sublime given-and-go with Ilona Maher, where Emba popped an over-the-shoulder pass and circled back to get the return pass to score.
Can Eagle Women Improve on 3rd?
By the time this next sequence of Sevens World Series tournaments is over the women will be halfway through their season.
The USA has a very good chance to secure a spot in the 2024 Olympics by finishing among the top four in the season. They can do that by repeating what they've done in Dubai and Capte Town, and finish 3rd.
But you can bet they want more than that. Certainly the Eagles are capable of winning tournaments. Since the beginning of the 2019 season, over 19 tournaments, Australia and New Zealand have won all but four tournaments. Canada won one of those other four, and the USA has won the other three.
And with their improved play and greater variety in attack, the USA should be targeting a tournament win despite the face that New Zealand and Australia host the next two events.
Tough Competition on Horizon as Daines Examines Women's Pathway
At the WRCRA Conference in Virginia Martha Daines, the USA Rugby Women’s High Performance Pathways Manager, was one of eight to receive a lifetime achievement award, but to talk to her what you hear is about the future, not the past.
A giant in coaching circles, and before that in playing circles, Daines now has the job of overseeing how the USA team will look some years down the road. She isn’t shy about identifying problems now, and in one presentation at the Conference, she mapped out some of the issues coaches have seen with the Eagles.
Such as … fitness, executing technical skills, execution of skills under pressure, recognizing opportunities, and managing space.
It’s about quality of coaching when players are just starting out, and it’s about players demanding more of themselves.
Hamilton Sevens a Chance to Make a Move
The Sevens World Series stop in Hamilton, NZ is a huge event for the series as a whole.
As we discussed earlier this month—Tracking Olympic Prospects as LA 7s Approaches—the men's standings are kind of packed close, so no one is in a position where they can be assured of one of those four automatic berths to the 2024 Olympics.
USA Falcons Bowl Runners-Up in Fiji
The USA Falcons finished Bowl Runners-Up at the Fiji Coral Coast Sevens Saturday at Lawaqa Park.
After going a competitive 1-2 on the first day the young USA men's team found itself in the Bowl quarterfinals shooting for 9th.
Winning the Bowl remains difficult because it requires you to win three games in a row.
They opened up Saturday with a 14-10 defeat of Tuva Rugby. Donovan Law and Pita Vi scored tries in the victory.
That put them in the Bowl Semifinal against Kwaiyata Yamacia. Paced by yet another try from Law (his fourth of the tournament) and two from Nick Hardrict II the Falcons won 19-7.
In the final they fell short by just one score, with Coastline Ratu Filise edging them 12-7—Vi scoring the lone try, his fourth of the event.
Ashfield Takes Eagle Helm and Looks to Stabilize the Ship
Under the gun somewhat differently than others in USA Rugby's High Performance drama, interim Women's 15s Head Coach Rich Ashfield will have to think very short term, at least for now.
While in our interview with Men's 15s (interim) Head Coach Scott Lawrence was more about looking ahead, Ashfield has just a couple of months before he has to assemble the USA team play its first games since the Rugby World Cup last year.
He has to move quickly, but can't ignore the future at the same time. So, yes, even with the interim tag (or because of it) there's a special kind of pressure on the coach. And the future-vs-present conundrum goes double when it comes to selections.
USA Falcons Face Challenge Day One at Coral Coast Sevens
The USA Falcons men's team is meeting up with some difficult competition at the Coral Coast Sevens in Fiji.
Returning to some much-needed development tournaments (as advocated by GRR here>>), this young Falcons team is playing in Fiji where the consensus is that six ro seven of the teams in action could succeed just fine on the Sevens World Series circuit. Fiji's astounding depth in 7s is on display here, and teams that have to travel the 6,000 miles or so will find out that it is no picnic.
Teams such as the Fijian Army, a team of corrections officers, the police, the fire department, and some other groups are in this 16-team men's competition. The Falcons are the only non-Fijian side playing.
USA Pathways Under Scrutiny Now More Than Ever
Scrutiny, pressure, and perhaps some expectations are coming to bear upon several people involved with USA Rugby’s High Performance plans.
As documented in these pages, the underperformance of the USA women’s 15s team at the recent World Cup, and the USA men’s 15s not qualifying for their World Cup basically ensured two coaches wouldn’t keep their jobs, others moved on, and still more are certainly looking over their shoulder.
Within the USA Pathway department, Men's High-Performance Pathways Manager is in a slightly different position in that he’s not the first person you think of when you think heads should roll. His task is more long-term, so yes there’s scrutiny, and some pressure, but much of that is welcome.
RMA: Ben Pinkelman Plays Through It
Whether it's playing through being thrown in with older, bigger players, playing through an injury, or taking on the next challenge as a coach, Ben Pinkelman keeps at it.
We sat down with Pink to talk about his move up the ladder while at Colorado State, whether it's easy or difficult to play 7s and 15s at the same time, and more.
Pinkelman talks about the disappointment of the 2016 Olympics, the joy of being named one of the best 7s players in the world, and the heartbreak of injury.
(David Barpal photo.)
And now as a coach he's helping nurture this new crop of USA 7s players ... can they be great too? You might be surprised at what he says.
Scott Lawrence Has a Plan
There is a lot on Scott Lawrence’s plate as he takes on the positions of Interim Men’s 15s Eagles Head Coach and Interim GM of High Performance.
First on the list is to not worry about the “Interim” part of that job description.
Lawrence wants the job long-term, there’s no denying that, but, in discussing the task ahead with Goff Rugby Report, Lawrence said it is a fool’s game to operate in job-preservation mode.
“For me I’m going to treat it as the first eight months of a five-year deal,” said the former Eagle. “The big thing is that I’m not coming in for job preservation because that’d be a waste of eight months. The stuff I am looking to do may not bear fruit for a year or two years, so I can’t operate in the short-term; it’s not good for the game.”
Scott Lawrence, Richard Ashfield Named Interim Eagles Head Coaches
USA Rugby has announced that the organization has appointed two interim Head Coaches for the two senior 15-a-side national teams.
Scott Lawrence is now the Interim Head Coach for the USA Men's Team, and Rich Ashfield is the Interim Head Coach for the USA Men's Team.
Lawrence, meanwhile, is also Interim General Manager of Men's 15s High Performance, replacing Dan Payne.
Just before the new year, the USA Rugby Board of Directors initiated a full review of USA Rugby High Performance programs. That review is still ongoing and will include discussions and meetings with a variety of stakeholders. A search for full-time Head Coaches will begin after the review is completed, however, it was determined that interim coaches needed to be put in place now.
Cain Won't Return to Coach Eagle Women
USA Women's 15s Head Coach Rob Cain has officially announced that he will not return to coach the USA team.
Cain's contract with USA Rugby had expired and while USA Rugby had not said explicitly that he would not be asked back, the ongoing High Performance review, coupled with Cain's 5-17 record in test matches (wins over Canada, Ireland, Japan, Australia, and Scotland) led most observers to believe that a different coach would be sought.
A jovial and well-liked man who couple an laconic humor with a deep understanding of the game, Cain had won at the professional level in the UK, but couldn't find the right formula to hang with the top four in the world.
Stuff to Work on, but Progress Made: USA at WRWC
Can the USA make adjustments to beat Canada in the Rugby World Cup quarterfinals?
Certainly they weren't out of the game, and the weird referee non-calls aside, the Eagles showed they could retain ball, make ground, and score tries.
It was without a doubt one of the best performances the USA has had in quite some time.
“Much better," said USA Head Coach Rob Cain. "I think the quarterfinal is going to be a cracker. Everyone could see ... that we are more than a 30-minute team. It’s a shame when things don’t go your way; there were a few things in the game that caused us to lose a bit of momentum but I am really proud of the players, they responded really well, and I think everyone can see we will have a good quarterfinal.
