Job Done; USA Men Books Paris 2024 Spot
Job Done; USA Men Books Paris 2024 Spot
The USA Men's 7s team has qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games after beating Canada 24-14 Sunday afternoon in Langford, BC.
The Eagles overcame a couple of big mistakes that helped Canada to their tries, but paced by the brilliance and leadership of captain Kevon Williams and plenty of hard work they were able to get home with the win in front of a vocally pro-Canada crowd.
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) August 21, 2023
The Semifinals
The tournament was formatted by giving Canada and USA byes to the semis because both teams were 2-0 in pool play. Mexico beat Barbados 29-5 and Jamaica beat Bermuda 45-0 to join the two northern teams in the semis. Canada rolled past Mexico 54-5, dominating the contact area and riding the crowds enthusiasm to keep the ball moving nicely. For the USA, their 30-0 win over Jamaica was a tough one. Jamaica is very physical and the key question was whether the Eagles could win without picking up injuries. As it was, Adam Channel was unable to play in the final.
A counter-ruck from Marcus Tupuoloa allowed Joe Schroeder to set up Ben Pinkelman for the opening try. After winning the restart the Eagles had Baker ready to go but an uncharacteristic drop from the USA star gave Jamaica a chance. The USA worked back to win the ball back and eventually get it back to Baker, who raced in for a try. No smiles as Baker was clearly unhappy about the drop.
It was a difficult first half after that with Jamaica working hard on defense and getting out of a couple of tough situations. Add to that the fact that Naima Fuala'au got a yellow card for an intentional knock-on, and they had some work to do. Fuala'au had a beef on the call—he tapped the ball in the air with one hand and was tackled without the ball before he could catch it again. Still the USA did manage to get over one more time to lead 15-0 at the break.
In the second half, as we will see in the final, the veterans came through at key moments. Stephen Tomasin exploited some broken play to cut through and score in the corner. Kevon Williams then took a nice angle off a scrum before sending it wide to Malachi Esdale, who scored in the corer.
And finally, the Eagles stole some lineout ball and sent it wide to Esdale with a low pass that he wisely kicked ahead. The Eagle chase was good, forced a penalty, and they tapped and sent it wide to Aaron Cummings for the final try. All unconverted, but 30-0 did the job.
The Final
Canada know what they had to do; keep the ball and be strong in contact, which could potentially force a missed tackle.
So that's what they worked on. The Eagles defended well and eventually a well-executed turnover set up a USA chance. Pinkelman did an excellent job of keeping his feet and looking for support and finally Williams looped around and scored in the corner for a 5-0 lead.
Canada won the restart and kept testing the USA line. Once again the Eagles got a turnover and set up a chance, moving the ball well. With one pass needed to put the ball in under the posts, they dropped the ball and Canada countered quickly. It was an excellent effort from the Maple Leagues as they didn't rely on one player to take it all the way and worked the ball back and forth before finally getting Elias Hancock in under the posts. The kick as good and Canada led 7-5.
But there was still time left in the first half and the USA has some quick-strike players. The Eagles took the restart, moved the ball to the left, and then to the right, where Baker torched his defender and raced 55 meters to score a brilliant try. The conversion was good and the USA entered halftime up 12-7.
Who would score next, it seemed, would have the momentum. Canada got a penalty off the kickoff and looked to attack from a lineout deep in USA territory. But Joe Schroeder stole the lineout and the ball was quickly sent to Williams, who made one tackler miss and galloped on for 85 meters to score under the posts. It was a back-breaker for Canada. The USA, with Tomasin's conversion, were now two converted tries ahead.
"Joe did his job; he went up in the lineout, got a steal," said Williams. "Naima flicked the ball. I saw a space and I just attacked it."
As time went on it was clear the Eagles had to keep the ball and they did a snappy job of that. Finally, Schroeder broke through, pushed off a tackler, and when he was finally dragged down he floated an offload to Lucas Lacamp in support. Try, and a 24-7 lead.
Canada still had time and an intentional knock-on by Baker, resulting in a yellow card, opened up the door a little bit. And yes, they did score (the manner of their scoring was a little dubious—when you're tackled and you release the ball and then get up to regather, you should take your hands off the ball). But there wasn't enough time. The USA got a penalty right after the restart and Tomasin tapped and sent the ball into the stands.
Ultimately it was job done. It wasn't always pretty or perfect, but it was an interesting illustration of how valuable experience is. It was the experienced players who made the big plays. But at the same time, everyone made a key play at some point.
And it's taken care of @USARugby @TeamUSA captain Kevon Williams reflects on qualifying for @Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/rjYqWigbMr
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) August 21, 2023
The USA joins hosts France, World Series top-four teams New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji, and Australia, Europe champs Ireland, and South American champs Uruguay for the men's Olympic rugby event in Paris. There are four more spots: Africa, Oceania, Asia, and the final qualifier tournament winner.
Canada moves on to the final qualifier along with third-place RAN team Mexico, and also Chile, Brazil, Great Britain, Spain, and six others to be decided.
Canada Women Win Easily
It was a walk in the park for Canada as they won the women's RAN 7s easily, beating Mexico 53-0 in the final. Overall, Canada outscored their five opponents 288-7.
Canada joins hosts France, World Series top-four teams New Zealand, Australia, USA, and Ireland. (Ireland actually finished 5th but France was 4th so that doesn't count.) Also qualified are South American champs Brazil and European champs Great Britain. Four more teams are set to qualifier.
Canada women taking care of business. Fancy Bermudez tells it like it is. pic.twitter.com/BcXDlU0qHI
— Alex Goff (@goffrugbyreport) August 21, 2023
Poetry
Williams mentioned a poem he uses as inspiration and it is by Edgar Albert Guest and it is titled See it Through.
The first stanza is as follows:
When you’re up against a trouble,
Meet it squarely, face to face;
Lift your chin and set your shoulders,
Plant your feet and take a brace.
When it’s vain to try to dodge it,
Do the best that you can do;
You may fail, but you may conquer,
See it through!
