It took some old-school heroics from the old man and some from the younger guys too but the USA it 2-0 in Perth after Day One.

They defeated Australia and Ireland and are in excellent position to win their pool.

USA vs Australia

The Eagle men opened up against Australia in one of the most ferocious and intense 7s games you'd ever want to see. Every tackle was a mini-battle in itself and every breakdown was contested to the maximum. Both teams were working enormously hard—the Aussies wanted to start well in front of their home crowd, and the Eagles wanted to prove they are better than they showed their first two tournaments.

Led by the unflinching combativeness of Stephen Tomasin, the USA defended for much of first three minutes. Finally they got the ball and looked pretty dangerous. A little break from Lucas Lacamp linked with Kevon Williams looping around. He fed Naima Fuala'au who got the ball to Joe Schroeder. The big man was on his way to the tryline and was just ankle-tapped before he could stretch over. As he placed the ball he lost it forward, and Australia had escaped inches from their tryline.

Back came the Wallabies and a break down the sideline was stopped only thanks to Lacamp and, especially, Aaron Cummings, who both made big plays. Stuck in their own 22, the Eagles saw the first half clock expire and Williams wisely booted the ball dead. It was the most exciting 0-0 half of 7s you'd ever expect to see.

The second half saw a bit more scoring. Off the kickoff Perry Baker caught the ball but lost it on the ground. Australia picked up and Maurice Longbottom sped in to make it 7-0 Aussies. Off the next restart the Eagles kept the ball and Maka Unufe tried a break up the sideline. He had Perry Baker with him but his pass went into touch. Australia launched off the ensuing lineout and Deitrich Roache scored to make it 14-0 Australia in a game that didn't seem that lopsided.

Unufe and Baker must have seen something on that last movement because they tried it again. This time Unufe took on the tacklers better and his perfect offload allowed Baker to turn on his 37-year-old jets to score under the posts. Now it was 14-7 Australia. 

A switch move with Baker put the man in for yet another try—that was his 265th in World Series action. Tomasin converted and it was all tied 14-14.

Madison Hughes came on for his first action in his comeback and promptly saw his restart not go 10 meters. With 19 econds to go Australia had a chance to take this game back. But massive defensive work from everyone on the USA team kept Australia at bay and eventually Schroder brove a player into touch.

Full time, 14-14, so ... overtime.

Call it Golden Point or Golden Try or Sudden Death, it was first to score wins. From their own 22 the USA attacked with Tomasin sending a long pass to Malachi Esdale, who sliced.

Now, here is where we take a moment ... one player we have hardly mentioned is Aaron Cummings, but Cummings was huge in this game. His defensive work and work in the breakdown is massively important to the team, and now we saw how his work rate and unselfishness won the game for the USA.

It was Cummings who took the pass and he was always looking to offload. He was tackled, but fed Hughes as he fell. Chased down by three Aussies, Hughes, ever the savvy player, pulled up and avoided contact to send a pass. And guess who got the pass? Cummings had pulled himself off the ground and was there in support (Tomasin was there also). Cumming immediately fixed the attention of a defender and passed perfectly to Esdale racing in. Esdale was under the posts, and the USA had their victory.

It was a brilliant try, and a testament to how just being there, catching, and passing quickly, can create tries.