WELLINGTON, New Zealand – The USA weren’t perfect on Friday in Wellington, but they still ended up wining their pool, as a clinical approach to their early pool games gave them a little breathing room in their final game of the day against South Africa.

The Eagles, South Africa, and France all ended up 2-1, but the USA had easily the best points difference and won Pool A.

Speedsters Perry Baker and Carlin Isles accounted for half of the team’s six tries against Japan, while captain Madison Hughes kicked five conversions to put the Eagles at the top of the pool after the first round of matches. France defeated Series-leader South Africa in the day’s first match, 22-5.

Lomano Lemeki opened the scoring for Japan in the second minute of the Pool A clash, though the Eagles had the first attack from the kickoff. Following a lineout to Japan inside the Eagles’ half, Lemeki broke a tackle from Isles and stepped just out of the reach of Maka Unufe for the first try and a 5-0 lead.

A restart and a few penalties later, the ball popped out of a Japan player’s hands around his own 22 to Isles, who turned on the jets in space for the reply. Hughes kicked the conversion to give the Eagles a lead they would not relinquish.

Japan did well to recover Folau Niua’s restart but could not gain much territory from the attack. Within seconds, Niua plowed through the slow-to-form ruck and Unufe grabbed the loose ball for Danny Barrett. The former Cal Bear took the ball from midfield to the try zone, where he dotted down to increase the Eagles’ lead. Hughes padded the lead to 14-5 with the conversion.

Isles kept Japan from creeping on the lead with a try-saving tackle after the hooter sounded to send the teams into the half with the Eagles up, 14-5.

It may have been a slower start to the game than Head Coach Mike Friday would have wanted, but the Eagles put the accelerator to the floor in the second half, beginning with Isles’ try in the ninth minute. With a lineout on their left touchline, the Eagles quickly passed through hands to get the ball to the try-scorer, who broke one tackle and sped away from another for a 21-5 lead.

Isles was replaced by Baker not long after the try, and the other speedy wing played an instrumental part in the Eagles’ fourth try. Baker took a quick throw at midfield to catch Japan off guard and Niua scored under the posts following a skillful dummy. Hughes’ fourth conversion of the match stretched the lead to 28-5.

Playing with pace and purpose, the Eagles continued to search for more scoring opportunities in order to pad the point differential. It happened almost instantly as Garrett Bender caught Niua’s restart, but he and Baker could not keep the ball in play. Japan overthrew its lineout five meters from the line and Andrew Durutalo pounced on the loose ball for the score. Hughes missed his first and only conversion of the match for a 33-5 Eagles lead.

Japan nearly had a chance to get one back with no time on the clock, but the Eagles recovered possession inside their own half through a strip from the captain. Hughes offloaded to Baker for the final try, signaling the end of the 40-5 match.

After beating Series-leading South Africa in its first match at Wellington Sevens, France fell flat against the Men’s Eagles Sevens in a 38-7 win for Mike Friday’s side.

Test dotted down twice for the Eagles, who received another fantastic kicking performance from captain Madison Hughes to keep a sizable lead atop Pool A after the second round of matches at Westpac Stadium.

“It all comes from Coach Friday,” Test said after the match. “We keep each other accountable and stick to the system.”

Beating Japan, 40-5, in their first match, the Eagles picked up where they left off early on against France. After holding France’s first attack at bay with a big stop on Virimi Vakatawa, Folau Niua switched the Eagles’ go-forward to Andrew Durutalo. With a big run from midfield to France’s 22, Durutalo sent the ball to Test to finish off the scoring play.

The Eagles stayed hungry after losing the ensuing restart. Durutalo won possession in the tackle in France’s half and Perry Baker – starting in place of Carlin Isles – passed a quick ball to an onrushing Danny Barrett for the second try in as many minutes for a 10-0 lead.

France had its chance to respond in the fifth minute and nearly scored, but a pass back to a teammate a few meters from the try line betrayed Les Blues and found the slick hands of Niua.

France regained the ball following the scrum, but Baker used his lengthy wingspan to tip Vakatawa’s pass to himself inside the Eagles’ 22. Maka Unufe received the ball and found the speedster calling for it on the wing for Baker’s second try of the tournament. He dotted down under the sticks to set up Hughes’ first successful conversion of the match, giving the Eagles a 17-0 lead.

Hughes was the next Eagle to intercept a loose pass from the French, and it came in a dangerous position: underneath the uprights. He kicked the conversion for a 24-0 halftime lead.

Friday was pleased with his team’s effort in the first seven minutes, but the match was far from over. France struck first in the second half through Renauld Delmas, making the score 24-7.

The Eagles went back on the front foot, however, with Test scoring his second try of the match in the 10th minute. Martin Iosefo and Baker combined to move the Eagles within striking distance on the wing, and a loose ball popped to the Eagles’ all-time leading scorer. Test made a move between two defenders and fended off the final Frenchman to get over the line.

Up, 31-7, in the 11th minute, Garrett Bender entered the fray and used his aerial ability to knock Niua’s restart back to a teammate. Hughes flung the ball to Niua in the middle of the pitch and a patented dummy preceded the Eagles’ final try of the match.

France looked poised to snatch a late try without an Eagle sweeper back to defend inside the 22, but Isles tracked back to take down the wannabe gloryman. He left the field with an apparent injury before the final whistle blew.

In the final round of games, France beat Japan to give them a 2-1 record and a +4 points differential. So that meant South Africa needed to beat the USA by five points to edge out France for the Cup Quarterfinals. To bump the USA down to 2nd in the pool, South Africa needed to win by 33.

In the end, the Blitzbokke did enough to finish 2nd, but that was it.

South Africa came flying out of the gate. For the first two minutes of the match the Eagles defended valiantly and forced a knock in their own half. Maka Unufe received the ball and broke to midfield with shifty footwork and pace, and an in-stride Perry Baker gave Madison Hughes the perfect option to get on the scoreboard. Baker’s third try in New Zealand and Hughes’ 10th conversion gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

South Africa struck back quickly less than a minute later, as Seabelo Senatla broke free in the middle of the park and scored under the posts. Branco du Preez’s conversion leveled the match at 7-7.

The Eagles pushed for the next try but succumbed to conceding the third try of the match. Missed tackles gave du Preez a free run to the corner, and he found Kwagga Smith alone for a try under the posts and an easy conversion.

With less than a minute remaining in the half, Unufe held strong through a tackle to gain midfield and offloaded to the pacey Baker to ensure the Eagles went into the break tied, 14-14.

The Eagles lost a couple of scrums in the match, and each led to a try. In the ninth minute, a scrum deep in their own half gifted possession to the Blitzbokke, and Cecil Afrika kept ahold of the ball through a Zack Test tackle into the try zone for a 21-14 lead.

Even with Cup qualification secure, the Eagles played for the win and nearly scored through Test, but the team’s all-time leading scorer could not channel his inner-Baker/Carlin Isles. Martin Iosefo also had an opportunity to break free, but the final scoring play came to South Africa.

In the 14th minute, Smith received what appeared to be a forward pass on the wing and managed to avoid a joint-tackle from Baker and Hughes to put the match out of reach.

What was key for the USA in winning the pool was that they didn't let up. They defeated Japan, and put the hammer down to win by a big margin. Then, against France, when they led easily in the first half, they kept working and scored two late tries to bolster their stats. 

So that finished the pool:

USA 2-1 +66

South Africa 2-1 +12

France 2-1 +4

Japan 0-3 -70

The USA will face Scotland in the Cup Quarterfinals at 4:28pm PT, 1:28pm ET Friday.

Box Scores:

USA 40 
Tries: Isles (2), Barrett, Niua, Durutalo, Baker 
Conversions: Hughes (5)

Japan 5 
Tries: Lemeki 
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USA 38 
Tries: Test (2), Barrett, Baker, Hughes, Niua 
Conversions: Hughes (4)

France 7 
Tries: Delmas 
Conversions: Bourahoua

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USA 14 
Tries: Baker (2) 
Conversions: Hughes (2)

South Africa 26 
Tries: Senatla, Smith (2), Afrika 
Conversions: du Preez (3)