Who Are These Guys? USA Men 3rd in Cape Town
Who Are These Guys? USA Men 3rd in Cape Town
It's 3rd place for the USA Men's 7s team in Cape Town after the Eagles defeated South Africa in the Bronze Medal match.
Led by a very strong tournament by Aaron Cummings, who demonstrated a massive work rate and filled in at several unglamorous moments to make it all work, and with Stephen Tomasin being a defensive stalwart, the Americans produced a fairly solid run of results, They beat Uganada and Great Britain by huge margins, tied Australia, shut down Fiji 17-7 thanks to their big men, and before losing to New Zealand thanks to two late tries.
That set up the 3rd-4th match with South Africa.
The offload game is a beautiful thing! #HSBC7s | #CapeTown7s | @USARugby pic.twitter.com/WLk7ZXY7DJ
— World Rugby 7s (@WorldRugby7s) December 11, 2022
Head Coach Mike Friday started Malachi Esdale, Cummings, David Still, Joe Schroeder, and Lance Williams in a big-man lineup designed to counter South Africa power. It seemed to work. Cummings seemed involved throughout the opening minutes and he was instrumental in the opening try. Marcus Tupuola sent a high pass to Cummings who somehow tapped it behind himself to Still. He basketball passed to a looping Tupuola, who sidestepped back infield for an improbable try.
Off the restart Cummings pushed South Africa into touch and Schroeder went quickly with the lineout throw. Esdale and Still ran a give-and-go and Esdale was in at the corner.
South Africa scored on a nifty kick-ass to close it to 10-7, but with time up in the first half Cummings ripped the ball out of a ballcarrier's hands and popped to the waiting Schroeder, and the big man was off for a lung-busting 60-meter charge and a 15-7 halftime lead.
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The Eagles kept up the pressure with some good runs from Tupuola and Cummings before Faitala Talapusi scored on a quick tap. The Eagles gave up one more score but held on—in fact they seemed to seal the game with a try as time expired but Still was too emphatic with his touch-down and lost control of the ball.
All of that, though, is part of a story of a bunch of players whoa re still relatively new to either rugby or international 7s rugby. What has happened, though, is that players like Still and Esdale are not only athletic and physically strong, they do smart things—they support; they make intelligent decisions; they demonstrate they know the laws.
Because they are like this, you can put Still on the field with Baker and they work together well.
And while the experienced players, Kevon Williams, Tomasin, and Schroeder, are hugely important, it is evident that the man making little things happen is Davenport product Cummings. Having a player with speed and elusiveness who also loves winning counterrucks and making open field tackles.
All of that so far leaves the USA ranked 4th in the World Series after three tournaments. In what promises to be an almighty war for those top four spots, the Eagles are right in the mix.
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Current Men's World Series Standings (Top 9) after Three Tournaments
1. Samoa 47pts
2. South Africa 47
3. New Zealand 44
4. USA 44
5. Fiji 40
6. Australia 39
7. France 38
8. Argentina 37
9. Ireland 34
