End of Tournament Blues for USA
End of Tournament Blues for USA
International 7s coaches talk a lot about fitness, but that word can mean a lot of things.
It can mean in-game fitness—going all-out for two straight minutes in what is essentially a full sprint. It can mean all-game fitness—high intensity for 14 minutes. It can mean full-tournament fitness. That one is a tough one. For a 15s international player, yes they expend a ton of energy, but once you’re subbed iff (with exceptions) that’s it. You have, hopefully, emptied the tank and you’re done for the day.
In 7s, you can empty the tank and know you have to be ready to do it again and again.
This is a factor for both USA teams.
With travel also being tough, maintaining physical and mental energy throughout a tournament, even when you’re almost finished.
In both final games in Perth, some members of the USA team looked tired. Not everyone, and it wasn’t through a lack of desire, but some players just were either physically tired or (and you can tell) their brains were too slow to react to a situation.
All of these little things, sometimes just a second’s hesitation, led to two close losses on Sunday.
USA Women Take 6th
This 5th-place final vs Japan was eminently winnable. But Japan used their speed and energy (and a couple of very favorable calls) to beat the USA 27-22 on the final play of the game.
Two early tries by Ariana Ramsey staked the USA to a 10-0 lead. But some quick decisions by Japan led to a try on a pick-and-go. However, that try happened because Japan played the ball on the ground when they were being rucked off the ball. It was clear as day and no one called it.
Nice interplay between Alyssa Porter and Kayla Canett for Canett to score. 15-5 USA.
Japan then scored on a quick lineout. We will discuss a bit later how that came to pass.
A knock-on by the USA in their 22 led to the tying try. Now it was clear that the USA was moving slower than the Japanese. Their decision-making and execution started to suffer.
Still they scored a very nice try with Autumn Locicero setting up Jessica Lu for a long run. That made it 22-15. It is possible, here, that the Eagles saw the barn door here. There wasn’t much time left and they had a lead.
But that would have been a mistake. Japan scored off a 2-on-1 on the weak side. This try was not Autumn Czaplicki’s fault. She picked the player with the ball and made her tackle. The fault lay in the fact that the USA team didn’t bump out to cover a large weak side. That’s what we mean when we talk about fatigue affecting decision-making.
So as time expired the USA players were now chasing every ballcarrier. They pulled themselves out of position and opened it up for Japan to win the game.
So, 6th place is nice, but this is a team capable of much more. They produced two good wins at the beginning of the tournament but lost three straight after that. There is work to do.
USA Men 12th out of 12
Another weird thing about the SVNS World Series is you can have a team beat the eventual tournament champions, and then finish last.
That’s what happened with the USA. They lost to South Africa on the last possession of the game. Beat Argentina in overtime. Lost to Australia when they had the ball at the end of the game and a chance to win it. They lost to Kenya 26-21, and then on Sunday lost 19-17 to Ireland. Points for 93, points against 107. Tries scored: 15. Tries allowed: 17. All of that ends up being a 1-4 record and a 19-17 loss to Ireland in the 11th-12th match.
The Eagles ran out to an early lead after they were penalized. Ireland took the lineout, overthrew, and co-captain Jack Wendling nabbed the ball and took off for the corner.
But mistakes and dumb penalties started to creep their way in. Lucas Lacamp and Ben Broselle combined to fumble catching the ball and off the ensuing scrum Ireland ran a switch move and went the distance.
With the hooter gone at halftime the Eagles had another chance. Adam Channel had Lacamp with him but opted not to pass. Bad idea. Tackle, penalty, end of half.
Ireland scored right off the kickoff and then a loose Eagle pass gave the ball up again and another soft try. All three tries were given on a silver platter and all three cold be chalked up to skill or decision-making errors that could be chalked up to fatigue.
The USA did mount a comeback. A nice tap penalty move involving Peter Sio, Jr., Lacamp, and Channel put Channel in. However, it was a try in the corner. Down 19-5, the USA needed a conversion to be within one score—this situational awareness will come with time, but it made a difference. Why? Because Lacamp finally got the ball in space (which he hadn’t since Day One) and scored on a long-range run.
Lacamp was spent after that run, a good example of how much the players need to put into these games. The conversion was good, but that was the end of the game. One conversion short at 19-17.
The USA is tied with Ireland as the bottom two teams in the SVNS standings and it’s a deserved position. However, they are not far from being way, way better. They have a habit now of being really close to the vert top teams and then fading late in the tournament. It’s that tournament fitness that they need.
They are capable of beating Argentina, South Africa, et al., but they also need to have that ability to put aside those tough losses and beat the likes of Kenya and Ireland, too.
