The USA and Canada surprised no one with their dominant performances in the Men’s NACRA 7s Championships on Day One.

Canada went 3-0, and the Eagles went 2-0. The Canadians beat Bahamas 45-0, Trinidad & Tobago 38-7, and Guyana 51-0 in the final game of the day. The Trinidad game was a bit of a surprise as Canada fell behind 7-0 on a long range try from Agboola Silverthorn - the result of a needless penalty by Canada and a slow retreat by all concerned. 

But a stern talking-to from captain John Moonlight got them back on track, and Adam Zruba and Moonlight got them in the lead. Canada also scored a somewhat bizarre try, when Taylor Paris grubbered a kick and we hit late. The referee played advantage and it seemed as if everyone stopped playing for a moment. Sean Duke swooped in to pick up the ball and walk into in-goal to score, a little confused as to why no one chased him.

So on to the final game of the day where Canada handled the physical, hard-nosed Guyana offense quite nicely. Harry Jones burst up the middle for the first try, and Phil Mack celebrated his return from injury with three superb tries and a penalty goal.

So now there’s just the Cayman Islands between Canada and a 4-0 record and a spot in the semifinals.

Canada 45 Bahamas 0

Tries: Jones, Hirayama, Hearn 2, Zaruba 2, Braid
Convs: Hirayama 4, Jones

Canada 38 Trinidad & Tobago 7

Tries: Zaruba, Moonlight, Duke, Hirayama, Ardron, Mack
Convs: Hirayama 3, Mack 

Canada 51 Guyana 0

Tries: Jones, Braid, Mack 3, Paris, Fuailefau, Duke
Convs: Jones 4
Pen: Mack 

For the USA, their execution was good in a lot of areas, but they struggled to secure restarts - even though al the pieces seemed to be in place - the kick, the chaser, the jump. 

Still, the Eagles only played two games because St. Vincent & the Grenadines couldn’t get into the country. The shrinking of their pool meant the Eagles had to wait until well after 3pm for their opening game, against Barbados. 

With a strong crowd excited to see the USA players in person, the Americans did not disappoint. Martin Iosefo burst through for a quick try, and then Danny Barrett powered over. The Barbados pace was enough to stop Perry Baker from scoring on a couple of runs, but the speedster did get a try, before Iosefo and Folau Niua made it 33-0 at halftime.

The Eagles cruised after that, with Carlin Isles, Maka Unufe, and Madison Hughes all scoring. Chris Wyles got his first United States 7s action in several years and made a big poach, and showed that it’s not that hard to figure out that if Isles is in space, give him the ball. Wyes also slotted two conversions from near the touchline.

The second match was against a solid-looking Mexico team. Head Coach Mike Friday shook up his lineup a little bit, and saw his team struggle to get those aforementioned kickoffs. However, the USA defensive pressure was impressive, and produced tries for Unufe, Baker, and Niua in the early going.

Baker scored a brilliant long-range try later on, and then Barrett, Isles, Wyles, and Isles again finished it off. Isles was scintillating in his new role as game-icer.

Friday rested some players - not starting Hughes in the opening game and keeping Zack Test out of the starting seven in the second. Garrett Bender had an active day, while Niua was a nifty playmaker.

It was tough going for all of the teams, with temperatures and humidity in the 90s. 

“As a squad we have equipped ourselves well and the entire squad have had a good amount of game time out in the weather conditions and all able to blow the cobwebs away in preparation for tomorrow. More important all 12 are healthy and feeing good to go for tomorrow,” Friday told Goff Rugby Report. “We played with relatively good accuracy and I was happy with the majority of our breakdown work both in attack and in defense. We are moving the ball efficiently around the pitch but the area I want us to be more ruthless in is hitting onto the ball with pace and power in the outside channels.”

The USA faces Jamaica in their final pool game Sunday before looking ahead to a likely semifinal match against Guyana. Friday said he’d like to see his team be a little less lateral in their attack.

“We will  need to tighten this part up,” said Friday. “I also believe there is still more to come from us at kick-off time, be it when we are chasing or receiving, as that is an area we can and will improve on tomorrow.”  

USA 54 Barbados 0

Tries: Iosefo 2, Barrett, Baker, Niua, Isles, Unufe, Hughes
Convs: Niua 4, Wyles 3  

USA 50 Mexico 0

Tries: Unufe, Baker 2, Niua, Barrett, Isles 2, Wyles
Convs: Hughes 4, Wyles 2

In other action, Mexico and Guyana looked solid and should make the semis.