USA Men Finish 8th in Paris
USA Men Finish 8th in Paris
(USA Rugby Report)—The USA Men's Sevens finished eighth place at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, ending their time in France with a 0-19 loss against Argentina in the seventh place playoff.
The men's quest for an Olympic medal ended early after a quarterfinal loss to Australia. Pita Vi and Adam Channel were called up to the squad, stepping onto Olympic pitch for the first time against Ireland. Perry Baker scored six tries, bringing his Olympic career tally to 10, becoming the record holder for most Olympic tries. Baker also broke the record for most tries scored in a match when he put up four tries in their pool play match against Uruguay on July 25.
Tournament Recap
The Dawgs began their Paris 2024 competition against hosts France in front of a 69,000-person crowd. But the USA put on the pressure, keeping France away from the try zone multiple times. Try saving tackles by Lucas Lacamp and Orrin Bizer kept Les Bleus from increasing their score, and Lucas Lacamp later had a breakaway try under the posts, and with Stephen Tomasin's conversion put the USA ahead by two points. The Eagles worked hard to maintain possession, and Marcus Tupuola scored his first Olympic try on the edge, tying up the game. Ball in hand in a scrum at the final whistle, the USA kicked the ball out to draw the game 12-12, ensuring two pool points.
Facing two-time Olympic champions Fiji for their second pool match, the USA knew they had some hard work ahead of them. Olympic debut Orrin Bizer was the first to strike in this match after Lucas Lacamp broke through to gain ground. But Fiji struck immediately for their own points, and it would quickly turn into a Fiji-dominant match. With the Pacific Islander team showing strong at the restarts, the Eagles were slipping off tackles and letting Fiji away with small errors. While Fiji controlled most of the game with their brutish strength, Madison Hughes found an opportunity to offload to an open Perry Baker, who scored under the posts to add a few more points for the USA. Ultimately Fiji proved more dominant in this match, taking the win 12-38.
Heading into their final pool match of the week against Uruguay, the Dawgs needed to pull out a win to book a ticket to the quarterfinals. The USA showed they knew the game's importance off the bat, as Perry Baker scored immediately at kickoff. The squad's connection on attack and organized defense was on point, especially as Lucas Lacamp tiptoed down the sideline and offloaded to a waiting Perry Baker for another try. Baker went on to score two more tries, totaling a record four, the most in any Olympic game. Lucas Lacamp jetted away to his own five points after a loose Uruguay ball was picked up. The USA's dominance and control gave them the win 33-17, ensuring their spot in the Olympic quarterfinals.
As the USA headed into the knockout rounds, their matchup with Australia would be crucial. But nerves were evident at the start, and Australia was able to capitalize on those nerves for their own gain. The Eagles showed good defensive effort, but on attack would let small mistakes give away possession. It was a tough result as Australia proved more determined, taking the win 0-18. With the loss, the Eagles would be playing for fifth place.
Ireland were the Eagles' fifth place semifinal matchup, and they were determined to turn around their Olympic story and get another win. Pita Vi and Adam Channel ran out as injury replacements, becoming Olympians for the first time. But it was a quick strike for Ireland, who scored within the first minute of the game. The rest of the first half was a fight for possession, as small mistakes gave away possession. Aaron Cummings found his way to the try line at the halftime whistle, tying up the game with a conversion by Stephen Tomasin. The second half was also a fight, with no scores for a few minutes until Perry Baker finally got ahold of the ball and ran for another score, putting the USA in the lead. With a minute left to go, the Eagles had to keep possession away from Ireland, but they found a tiring USA side's defensive holes, and put up two more scores to take the win, 14-17.
In their final match for seventh place, the Eagles faced fierce opponent Argentina. The Eagles worked hard at the start, and Lucas Lacamp broke away before a try saving tackle by Argentina kept him from scoring. Argentina was fast on defense, putting up a lot of try saving plays to keep the Eagles away from the try zone. With scrappy play in on a wet, rainy field, the Eagles couldn't get past Argentinian defense, giving the win away 0-18.
"Obviously we didn't get the results we wanted, and we wish we could've been on that podium, but I'm going to take the memories from the last eight years with the boys on the field grinding," said USA captain Kevon Williams. "We've had some bad years and we got really good, had some really great years, and then changed up the guard, but I'm just going to take the memories away. This was an awesome environment, awesome stadium, and a great team to be around. It's hard to say because you want to win so much, and Mike says all the time that results don't define us. It's how we act and how we are is what defines us.
"Going into LA 2028, I hope and pray that team tells me what it feels like to win a medal. I think that the program is going in a great direction. We have nice young talent, we have Lucas Lacamp, Orrin Bizer, a lot of boys back at home who have been training and waiting on this moment. These guys will take them exactly where they need to be. I expect big things in LA 2028."
"This game has been good to me, and I'm trying not to think about it being my last time because I love playing this game," said Baker, who will call it quits after an astonishing career:. "I'm going to take away the brotherhood and the fight that the boys had. We're the only sport that after you get knocked out of the medal round, you have to get up and play another game. It's so hard, but I just have the memories of the boys, the stuff we put in, the stuff we did to get here. To come out and fight and be resilient. I have the memories of fighting for the last two years, trying to put USA rugby on the map, to try and be a top contender team. I'm forever grateful for that. This game has grown so much since I came, and it's a testament to everyone who was a part of it."
Meanwhile, the memories are special for others, said Marcus Tupuola. "A special memory for me to takeaway is probably scoring, but besides that just playing with the brothers that I have. Some of them are leaving, so playing with them in these last moments and past couple months, just seeing them lead us is important to me because I'm going to be there next time, in their shoes in LA 2028."
And this is also expected to be the final games coached by Mike Friday, wgo has been the USA Head Coach for 10 years.
"It was a tough day for all of us having had to deal with the disappointment of the Quarter Final with dreams shattered and then come back out to represent. - It was a very tight placing game against Ireland and to lose it at the death was very tough for the boys and the story of our Olympics with little skill errors being the difference and monumental results consequences.
"This is predominantly a young developing group and whilst there will be a number of the players who have been huge servants over the last 10 years stepping away the core of this side is on the right trajectory for LA 2028 and the learnings from this Olympic experience will provide a solid foundation to build from on the pretence that the necessary comprehensive support is put in place to afford them an opportunity to succeed.
"I am super proud of every one of the players and results don’t define them as men. They met the challenge head on dared to dream, dealt with adversity and left it all out there on the pitch for their country and I hope that is acknowledged, respected and recognized by the USA rugby community."
