Gold Coast, Queensland –

Mike Friday's team got off to the perfect start as head coach of the Men’s Eagles Sevens after Zack Test’s hat trick gave the Americans a 17-15 victory against Canada Saturday.

A patient Eagles side held its defensive shape to stifle Canada for the first few minutes of the Gold Coast Sevens match at Cbus Super Stadium. In the fifth minute, Test broke through a tackle by Harry Jones and sidestepped another defender to open the Eagles’ account. Captain Madison Hughes’ conversion gave the men in white a 7-0 lead.

After a series of several timely tackles by Carlin Isles on the wing, the speedster could not hold down Justin Douglas. The Canadian No. 8 jumped back to his feet to dive over in-goal. The Eagles remained in the lead, however, following a missed conversion from Jones.

Even with a 7-5 lead at the half, Friday was not satisfied. A spirited talking-to and additional encouragement from the try-scorer provided the impetus for a try just one minute into the second frame. After Isles was taken down in the middle of the pitch, the Eagles moved the ball wide to Test. The Oregon man faked a pass to Isles and used his patented sidestep again to extend the Eagles’ lead to 12-7. The try was also Test’s 100th on the IRB HSBC Sevens World Series.

A few penalties on both sides of the ball forced the Eagles backward and eventually assisted a Canadian try. Lucas Hammond received the ball in the eleventh minute after Jones drew two defenders to the ground and dotted down to draw his team within two at 12-10.

It did not take long for Canada to pounce again after the Eagles coughed up possession on the restart. The neighbors maintained possession through multiple phases and capped it off with a try in the corner through Douglas.

Down, 15-12, Friday inserted fresh legs by replacing Isles with Perry Baker, and it almost paid immediate dividends. With his first touch of the ball, the winger broke the gain line and strode to midfield before he could be taken down. The effort was not in vain, however, as the Eagles set up Test with crisp passing for the late try and 17-15 win.

Test is the current leader in try scoring for the Eagles with 101. After the first round of Pool D matches, the Eagles sit in second place on point differential behind Argentina, who defeated England, 21-19, in the Gold Coast Sevens’ first match.

Men's Eagles Sevens | Gold Coast Sevens
1. Carlin Isles
2. Nic Edwards
3. Danny Barrett
4. Peter Tiberio
5. Zack Test
6. Andrew Durutalo
7. Folau Niua (@ 11')
8. Maka Unufe
9. Garrett Bender
10. Madison Hughes (C)
11. Perry Baker (@ 13')
12. Pat Blair

Canada | Starting XV
1.Jordan Wilson-Ross (s)
2. Jake Webster (s)
3. Mike Fuailefau
4. John Moonlight
5. Conor Trainor
6. Sean Duke (s)
7. Lucas Hammond
8. Justin Douglas
9. Jack Smith (s)
10. Ciaran Hearn
11. Harry Jones
12. Adam Zaruba

Men's Eagles Sevens | 17
Tries: Test (3)
Conversions: Hughes

Canada | 15
Tries: Douglas (2), Hammon

The USA lost their second match, however, allowing a late try from England to drop them 14-7.

Zack Test added his fourth try of the Gold Coast 7s.

It was a slow start to the match, with the Eagles finding themselves pinned within 10 meters of their own try line. They controlled the play and eventually created a gap in the England defense to spring for territory.

The Eagles came close to scoring first with less than a minute remaining in the half. Test brought the men in blue to the 22 with a break but outran his support, forcing him to take a penalty in the tackle. The Eagles managed to get the ball back and Isles found himself facing two defenders with Test on the wing. He waited a second too long and misplaced his pass for Alex Gray to run 80 meters for the try.

It was a cruel way to end the half after maintaining the majority of possession, but Mike Friday’s players did not hang their heads. Two minutes into the second half, Pat Blair – in his first appearance of the tournament – drew a defender and fed Test, who broke free to level the match.

The Eagles were seconds away from earning a point from the match and even scoring a last-second try after England kicked to touch directly from the restart. With the ball at midfield, Hughes orchestrated a trained move before the team was penalized during the first phase. England’s Dan Bibby took the quick tap and sent the ball to Charlie Hayter, who scored his first career try to give England the 14-7 win.

There were good signs from the Eagles, who controlled the flow of the match for at least 10 minutes, and were never out of it. With Argentina defeating Canada in the other Pool D match, the Eagles hold their own destiny. With a defeat of Argentina by at least five points, the Eagles – level with England at four points – could finish second at minimum.

Men's Eagles Sevens | Gold Coast Sevens
1. Carlin Isles
2. Nic Edwards
3. Danny Barrett
4. Peter Tiberio
5. Zack Test
6. Andrew Durutalo
7. Folau Niua
8. Maka Unufe (@ 14')
9. Garrett Bender
10. Madison Hughes (C)
11. Perry Baker (@ 9')
12. Pat Blair (@ 8')

England| Starting XII
1. Charlie Hayter (s)
2. Alex Davis (s)
3. Phil Burgess
4. Dan Norton
5. James Rodwell
6. Tom Bowen (s)
7. Dan Bibby
8. Sam Blanchet (s)
9. Marcus Watson
10. Christian Lewis-Pratt (s)
11. John Brake
12. Alex Gray

Men's Eagles Sevens | 7
Tries: Test
Conversions: Hughes

England | 14
Tries: Gray, Hayter

In the final match, against Argentina, the USA had a superb scoring opportunity right at the beginning, but Andrew Durutalo opted to pass to Perry Baker rather than hold onto it, and ultimately, that allowed Argentina to stop the attack. It was the Pumas that ended up scoring after the Eagles were repeatedly penalized in the ruck.

But the Eagles replied. With some slow and unimpressive ball, the Eagles got a try when Madison Hughes realized he was surrounded by Argentine players. So he passed and the ball went through the hands to Perry Baker, who turned on the gas and raced down the sideline and then around to under the posts. The conversion was good and that gave the USA a 7-5 lead.

Too much pressure from Argentina and some panicky moves from the Eagles led to Argentina's second try just before halftime - 12-7.

The Eagles were guilty of going into contact way too much, and were also guilty of not controlling the restarts. That hurt them.

And what hurt them in the second half was knock-ons. Perry Baker had a break, but dribbled the ball as he lost his footing. Garrett Bender lost the ball in contact when he didn't need to force it. That led to a try for Argentina, and then Peter Tiberio let his eyes stray to the defense and he dropped a pass.

But finally the Eagles scored. They tried to use Carlin Isles, but the Argentine defense bottled him up. Such attention led to space for Nic Edwards, who took a pass from Hughes to score in the corner.

That made it 19-12 for Argentina. Not enough, and Argentina capped the game with another try. The result confirmed the USA in the bottom eight, and Argentina at the top of the pool.

The USA played the game without Danny Barrett, who received a two-match ban for foul play.

USA 12
Tries: Baker, Edwards
Convs: Hughes

Argentina 24