It's hard to decide what USA 7s team to evaluate after Hong Kong; was it the team that went 3-0 in pool play, and the team that dominated Wales in the Plate Semis? Or was it the team that just gifted South Africa 28 points in the quarterfinals, and was shut out by England in the Plate Final?

USA Coach Mike Friday said he and his team had mixed emotions about the tournament.

"We showed clearly where we are as a team when we perform, and that was clear to see on Day 1 and Day 2 when we won the group," said Friday. "We showed great resilience to deal with the setbacks of going behind and sticking to our plan, and then dominating the contact area and possession and being clinical with our opportunities."

Friday is referring, in part, to the game against Argentina where the Eagles were down 14-0 and then just took the game over.

But against South Africa, the Eagles seemed to not realize that when it rains in Hong Kong, it rain BIG. The ball was difficult to control. The passes were difficult to control. And, somehow, South Africa kept scoring soft tries.

"That game against South Africa, upon reflection, provided valuable learnings on big moments in games where we did not recognize collectively what the right thing to do was, and as a result in those weather conditions it allowed the SA defense to capitalize," said Friday. "It was a game where we dominated possession but not necessarily field possession. All four [South Africa] tries came from out mistakes and this is the lesson we need to take on board as a group moving forward. The key to progression is for us to all see the same defensive picture and communicate effectively and efficiently what we need to do to manipulate the situation."

In Singapore, the heat and humidity will be a factor, and for everyone, it's time to manage injuries as players will have logged four tournaments in the space of five weeks. The Eagles seem fit and strong, and have shown themselves to be able to compete with anyone. It's that consistency through the entire weekend they still seek.

Notes: The USA has made some personnel changes for Singapore. See here.