The USA Men’s 7s team finished 4th in the Hong Kong 7s, putting together a string of impressive results that, sadly, ended a little early as they were defeated by South Africa and Australia at the end of the tournament.

The Eagles needed to handle a very physical and difficult Russia team on Friday night, and had to do that Danny Barrett unavailable to play as he finished up a three-game suspension for an illegal hit in the last tournament. Barrett was exactly the kind of play the USA needed to handle Russia, but early tries from Folau Niua and Perry Baker set the tone, and they held on 14-7.

On Saturday, the Eagles faced another team that gives them fits, Scotland. For the second game in a row, they scored all of their points in the first half - all through Baker as he used his speed, elusiveness, and ability to read opportunities to stake the USA to a 19-0 lead. Scotland has a habit of coming back against the Eagles, and they did, but only for two tries, and the USA held on 19-14.

Finally they capped off pool play with a 33-5 torching of Argentina, with Mike Te’o, Niua, Baker, Matai Leuta, and Te’o again touching down. This time the Eagles finished the stronger, and looked set for a run through the Cup Round.

And in the quarterfinals they put in as good a game as you’d want to see. Repeatedly stung by England in recent tournaments, the USA this time fell behind 7-0 and roared back. Madison Hughes grubbered through, was grabbed but pulled out of it, juggled the ball a little, and then scored. Baker then ripped the ball out of Dan Bibby’s hands and was gone. And then with time up in the first half and England with the ball, a dropped ball allowed Stephen Tomasin to go the distance for a 15-7 halftime lead. 

Then they put it away in no uncertain terms. Barrett engaged a couple of tacklers and bounced a pass to Ben Pinkelman, who powered over, and then after a long period of defense, Baker knocked back a pass for Hughes to run 93 meters to make it27-7.

But no one has been able to beat South Africa in the semifinals this season, and while the USA came oh-so-close, they lost 29-24 in overtime. 

It was, unfortunately, the same story in the Bronze Medal game, as a tie was broken at the end of the game with Charles Stannard scoring for Australia and the 26-19 win.

Overall, it was one of the USA’s best tournaments in that they played consistently well throughout the event. Baker led the tournament with nine tries, and he led the tournament in points scored, with Hughes 5th. 

But the Eagles didn’t get very far in the standings. As we outlined earlier, it’s unlikely that the USA team can break into the top four, so the goal is to consolidate 5th. And they did just about all you could hope for, and still Australia, by virtue of Stannard’s try, inched two points closer. 

Three tournaments remain. The USA has to match Australia point-for-point to stay 5th. If they play like they did in Hong Kong, they shouldn’t have a problem.

(Baker on his way to one of his 9 tries. Martin Seras Lima.)