The USA Men's 7s team ended Hong Kong losing the Plate Final to England in what was an up-and-down Sunday for the Eagles.

The opening game of the day was best forgotten as soon as it was done, as turnovers, interceptions, a wet ball, and pretty much everything else bit the Eagles in the tail feathers. it's difficult to consider what the USA could have improve on in that game against South Africa, because almost all they touched turned wrong, and South Africa won 28-0.

As wrong as it all seemed in that game, it seemed right in the next one. Wales hardly saw the ball for the first six minutes. Some good phase work saw Zack Test and Martin Iosefo get close to the line because the ball was recycled for Perry Baker to go in on the right wing.

More careful possession work, with Iosefo testing the defense, saw Ben Pinkelman get the ball on the wing. The Colorado State University product put his head down and went for it, was caught just short of the line, but allowed his momentum to take him over so he could ground the ball for the try. That made it 10-0 and it looked to be 17-0 except Baker's basketball offload to Iosefo was forward, and then after Folau Niua set up Baker, the ball was knocked out of his hand as he drove to score.

So, still 10-0 in the second half when Baker went on a break, Garrett Bender helped out, and the ball was spun wide to Folau Niua, who combined with Test to get almost to the line. From there, Pinkelman scored a 15s kind of try with a simple pickup and dive. From the restart, then, the USA was on the attack once more and Bender and Pinkelman got them going forward before a nice long pass from Peter Tiberio made for an easy try for Baker.

The tall wing then got his third by grabbing a bouncing ball off the restart, and that was it - 27-0. Wales came close right at the end, but Tiberio and Nate Augspurger stopped them. It was a dominant display.

But as in-control as the USA team seemed to be, they lost it to England, as they were shut out 19-0 in the Plate Final. Head Coach Mike Friday opted to rest several starters in that game.

So 6th place, with a 4-2 record on the weekend, not a bad result. But there might be some injury worries, as we saw little of Danny Barrett on Sunday, and Nate Ebner did not suit up and played no minutes. Maka Unufe did not play against Wales but did start against England.

Notes: Perry Baker led all try-scorers in the tournament with 7. He is second to Seabelo Senatla for tries during the season, with 36 (Senatla has 48). Baker recently celebrated his 50th World Series try, and is now closing in on 70. Madison Hughes is 4th in the World Series with 237 points scored, and 2nd in conversions kicked. 

The Eagles remain 5th in the World Series and in fact strengthened their hold on that position, as they added four points to their lead over Argentina. They have an excellent chance of finishing the season 5th, and an outside chance of catching Australia for fourth.

Here are the standings: