USA Teams Have Good Opening Day in Madrid Sevens
USA Teams Have Good Opening Day in Madrid Sevens
Friday saw three wins for the USA in the two Madrid SVNS tournaments, putting both the men and the women in good position to achieve the goals they have set out.
USA Women
The Eagle women had just the one game to play, as they work their way through a tough pool in search of the season championship, or at least a podium finish. And while the final scoreline of 26-19 over Canada seems to indicate a close game, it really wasn’t.
The USA kicked deep to start the game and pinned Canada inside their own in-goal. Alev Kelter then forced a penalty, and from the ensuing scrum, a simple pass out to Ilona Maher saw her under the posts.
Up 7-0 the USA kicked deep again. They didn’t quite get the same easy try, however, and instead Canada broke out and looked like Charity Williams would go 50 meters to answer. But Eagle Alex Sedrick got on her horse and chased WIlliams down, making a tackle just short of the tryline and forcing a knock-on. It was a superb hustle play and most certainly save a try.
Eventually the USA got out of their own 22 with one of their prettiest tries of the season. Maher broke out, linked with Sam Sullivan, and then took the return offload before passing inside to Kayla Canett in support. She took off for 50 meters to cap a length-of-the-field movement that set the USA up for a 14-0 lead. (No rest for Canett after that try as she had to make the conversion, too, but she did.)
With time ticking away in the first half a long sequence of patient USA defense was capped by a rollicking tackle from Steph Rovetti. That loosened the ball and Maher fed Kristi Kirshe for a breakaway under the sticks. Canett converted and it was 21-0 at the break.
Canada looked to fight back, of course, and a nicely-taken try on a shake-and-bake and some acceleration from Piper Logan inched Canada closer at 21-7. But the USA responded. A loop movement between Sedrick and Alena Olsen got them close. Sedrick then worked hard in the support, added another run, and then got back on her feet to take the final offload from Maher to score in the corner. That made it 26-7, and Canada had a ton of work to do.
They got one back on a bit of a mismatch when two USA defenders tried to tackle Fancy Bermudez, both slipped off, and she was in. But the conversion was missed, so as time wound down there really was no chance for Canada to come back. They scored on a breakaway from Keyara Wardley with time up, but it didn’t matter.
USA 26
Tries: Maher, Canett, Kirshe, Sedrick
Convs: Kelter, Canett 2
Canada 19
Tries: Logan, Bermudez, Wardley
Convs: Daniels, Hogan-Rochester
Next up for the USA is Great Britain and then New Zealand. And remember, this is a straight two four-team pools shot to the semis. There’s no reprieve if you finish 3rd in your pool, so it’s a must-win versus GB.
Also winning on Day One were New Zealand, France, and Australia, so the usual suspects are chasing the medals.
USA Men
The USA men are in the qualifier tournament hoping not to get relegated out of the main SVNS Series. To do that they need to finish in the top four, and to do that, they have to win their final match. Pool play just decides the seedings of that final game, so it is nicer to have a good seed.
To that end, the games against Germany and Uruguay did matter, and the opener versus Germany could hardly have started worse. The Eagles gave up a penalty early and a nice backline move off the lineout put Germany in the USA 22. Yes there was a weird non-call—the USA counterrucked and the Germans just dragged the ball and their tackled player back, which is a no-no, but the loose ball out of that ruck was picked up by Germany and they scored. The Eagles needed to be more eagle-eyed around that breakdown.
Right after that a miscue on a pass between Lucas Lacamp and Kevon Williams gifted another turnover and a try to Germany. Three minutes in and the USA was down 12-0 to a team they would be expected to beat.
Everything straightened up after that. A superb pass from Stephen Tomasin to Naima Fuala’au put the playmaker in at the corner. Tomasin hit the difficult conversion. After that a nice scoop by Orrin Bizer got them close and a snappy pass from Fuala’au set up Perry Baker. The conversion put the USA ahead 14-12.
With time almost up in the first half Baker unleashed a lovely in-and-out to go around the edge and score again. That made it 19-12.
The USA kept it up as Baker and Williams ran a little give-and-go and Baker was in for a natural hat trick. The USA rolled from there, with Bizer bashing over and Pita Vi running down the sidelines to stay in control 40-19. Tomasin’s kicking for goal was excellent and helped keep the cushion fluffed up.
USA 40
Tries: Baker 3, Fuala’au, Bizer, Vi
Convs: Tomasin 5
Germany 19
Tries: Heid, Koch, Gleitze
Convs: Hufnagel 2
Next up was Uruguay, probably the most worrying team the USA would play in the pool because Los Teros often give the USA a tough time. They looked to this time, scoring off a series of well-taken offloads in the first minute.
But after that, Uruguay found they had trouble breaking through. The Eagles generally defended well. A fend and a sidestep put Lacamp through, and he followed that up with another nice run after he slipped out of a couple of poor Uruguay tackles.
Quick feet bring the USA ahead of Uruguay pic.twitter.com/TI7Su78BKY
— USA Rugby (@USARugby) May 31, 2024
A defensive breakdown opened up a tying try for Los Teros at halftime. But in the second half Williams unleashed a lovely fake and was through. Malachi Esdale charged in to make it a two-score game, and with time winding down Tomasin bled off the rest of the game by opting for a shot at goal when Uruguay was penalized.
Overall it was a pretty effective showing against a team that can really get under your skin. Aaron Cummings was a defensive stawart and also got some key yards for the USA.
USA 29
Tries: Lacamp 2, Williams, Esdale
Convs: Tomasin 3
Pens: Tomasin
Uruguay 14
Tries: Gonzalez, Basso
Convs: Lijtenstein 2
The USA now leads Pool A with a 2-0 record, while Uruguay and Germany are 1-1. Canada sites at 0-2. Should the USA beat or tie Canada, they will be #1 out of their pool, and meet #4 out of Pool B.
Spain leads Pool B, with Kenya and Chile at 1-1 and Samoa at 0-2.
So right now it looks like the USA will play Samoa on Day Three. All they need to do there is win that game.
