Up-And-Down USA 7s Team Carries Struggles into London
Up-And-Down USA 7s Team Carries Struggles into London
The HSBC World Series finishes off for the USA this weekend with not much good stuff to focus on.
This is a team that showed for about eight minutes last weekend in Toulouse that they can play with anyone, but then cratered rather badly on the second day. Going from a team that was leading Fiji and looking like they could beat one of the best teams on the circuit to a team leaking 45 (!) points to Spain is kind of shocking.
But it's not.
This team is, for the most part, very new to international 7s rugby. This is a team that has strengths and tactics and abilities that smart opponents study and learn to counter. This is a team that was playing without Perry Baker, someone who, whenever he is on the pitch, draws attention. That attention opens up gaps and Baker's speed and awareness on cover defense covers up a multitude of sins.
It's the same old story—you take out one player and everyone else realizes they weren't actually doing so great; they were relying on someone else to help them.
So the USA squad that made two straight finals early this year finished last—that's right, last—in Toulouse. And yet they also led Fiji 14-0 and scored at the last moment to tie them 21-21.
Head Coach Mike Friday has discussed his team's Mercurial performances before and how they stray from the plan.
But that rang hollow in France and he knew it.
"I can only apologize for the last two games against Spain and Kenya, where we were just not good enough on either side of the ball. We have to look at why this continues to happen. We need to work harder as a group at mentally resetting when things do not go our way and physically apply the basics whilst avoiding going individual to solve matters and instead stay on task as a collective to move forward. These are harsh, brutal public lessons for all of us to have to absorb, which for young men’s confidence can play a part too and cause a spiral, up or down."
And it's a lesson for the coach. It's a different team with a different understanding, and he has to communicate correctly.
Friday has always been good at that, understanding different players' mind sets and finding a way in. He's got to do that now.
Two almost identical sequences, for us at GRR, spelled out how things can backfire quickly.
Down 14-0 to France, the Eagles clawed their way back. With the score 14-7 France had the ball on the right side of the field (for them) and passed it left. The USA defense was nicely-spaced and contained the attack, with Pita Vi on the outside and Naima Fuala'au just inside him. As a result they make the tackle and the big man following the play, in this case Joe Schroeder, helps Fuala'au counter-ruck. The Eagle steal the ball, pass to the other side of the field, and Lucas Lacamp is there to score the game-tying try.
Beautiful.
Moments later it is the exact same situation, and the USA defense is in the exact same strong position. Only this time Fuala'au decides to give a late shot to the French player just after his pass. This takes Fuala'au out of the play and Vi is now facing a two-on-one. Try France, and the win 19-14.
This is not to pick on one play, but is to show the character of the team as a whole. They do something smart, get rewarded, and yet the next time decide to do something not-smart. It's undisciplined and self-destructive. That sort of thing seems to be going on all the time.
This weekend in London, it's a 12-team tournament. The other four teams normally in the event will be fighting for their World Series lives in a separate event. Oddly, one of those teams fighting for their lives, Canada, was really good in Toulouse after playing horribly for most of the season. With an North American Olympic Qualifier coming up this summer, Canada, at the moment, looks the better team.
The USA, which had been harboring thoughts of being in the Top Four and automatically qualifying for France 2024, is now in danger of being overhaul by Great Britain and falling to 10th. They have clinched an spot in the 2023-24 Series, but that's it.
(Japan, which is 15th in the World Series, will be dumped out of the series, so they get to play in the 12-team World Series tournament because they don't get to play in the relegation/promotion playoffs.)
London 7s Pools:
| Pool A | Pool B | Pool C | Pool Play-Off |
| New Zealand | Argentina | France | Uruguay |
| South Africa | Ireland | Australia | Kenya |
| Great Britain | Fiji | Spain | Canada |
| USA | Japan | Samoa | Tonga |
As you can see, the Eagles are in a really tough pool.
