The move up to the higher levels of the SVNS World Series didn't go especially smoothly for the USA men this past weekend.
The Eagles lost all of their games and finished last, 12th, in Hong Kong and now have some work to do in order to stay in that top eight for 2027.
Now, there is reason for optimism. The Eagles did what we often see at this level, coming very close to beating a very good team and finding it difficult to rebound after that.
Against New Zealand the USA had a ton of possession, worked the ball side to side, carried hard, but found it enormously difficult to break through.
By almost every statistical measure outside of the scoreboard, they were the better team, and yet, they weren't. It didn't help that the All Black 7s scored in the first 10 seconds off an interception and on the ensuing restart they gave up a penalty they never should have given up.
Lucas Lacamp's try after that was out of the top drawer for sure. But game stats don't measure how perfect the passes are. Game stats don't measure how often you go into contact when you need to keep the ball free and alive. Those are the little things that allow very good teams to bottle you up.
Having scored just before full time (Lacamp again), the USA had one more shot at tying this match. New Zealand got a yellow card and the Eagles had a penalty right on the All Black 22.
Here is the situation ... no time left, and a converted try ties the game. You aren't out of time ... you have all the time in the world. You don't need to rush, you need to be smart and patient. They weren't. They were frantic. Lacamp with the ball out wide needed to delay and cut back in. Instead he was isolated enough to be penalized. End of the game.
After that, the USA lost big to Australia, but had the chance to recover against Kenya and then Germany, two teams they had beaten during the SVNS 2 season.
