The USA is into the Plate Final after the Eagles defeated Wales 38-12 in Vancouver.

Perry Baker once again was a main strike weapon for the Americans, racing in for the opening try. Folau Niua added on before Baker put on one of his better runs of the weekend, dummying, faking, and changing direction to make his way to paydirt. 

That try put the USA up 19-0, and then Niua and Martin Iosefo orchestrated a brilliant move - Iosefo bursting through like he was going to take a pass, and Niua popping a left-footed kick over the Welsh defensive line, which had no sweeper.

That made it 26-0 at halftime, and in the second half, Iosefo executed a nifty backhanded pass to Madison Hughes, who used Baker as a decoy and ran in himself.

The game deteriorated after that, partly because of a couple of strange calls from referee Taku Otsuki, and partly from the running on of several subs. Wales scored twice, and you could see that the USA bench players were frustrated at losing some momentum. It didn’t help that a promising break from Thretton Palamo was called back for obstruction. But, with time gone on the clock, Patrick Blair and Seth Halliman found some room at the back of the ruck, and Halliman sent a nice pass out where Nate Augspurger just cut through and raced to the line. That finished it off, 38-12.

The USA will play Samoa, who beat Scotland 24-17, in the Plate Final at 4:58pm PT.

(See Steven Seiller's photos at http://gallery.summit-lights.com/Events/2016-HSBC-Vancouver-Sevens)