The USA Men’s 7s team finished 4th at the Glasgow 7s, working their way through an up-and-down second day, and in fact an up-and-down weekend to ultimately secure one of their best finishes in a tournament in their history.

The key sequence for the Eagles came near the end of the first half in the Cup Quarterfinal against Australia. Down 7-0, the Eagles were backed up to their tryline. During a wild sequence Perry Baker made a try-saving tackle, and then, as he tried to help out, star Zack Test sustained a leg injury painful enough to make him cry out. Test had to be helped off the field, and the Eagles looked set to give up another try. Instead, they won a scrum deep in their 22 and Baker beat a couple of defenders and went 90 meters for a try.

That helped turn things around, In the second half, Maka Unufe did exactly what Baker had done in the first half, and that was it. Their defense held, and two moments of brilliance saw them through.

Fiji beat the Eagles 19-5 in the semis, and it was simply a case of the Fijians handling the wet, cold weather better than their counterparts. And in the 3rd/4th game, England looked far the better side, as the Americans kept turning the ball over in contact, and sometimes not in contact, and helping England to a 19-0 halftime lead.

Friday admonished his team to protect the ball, but they started the second half with a loose pass from Matai Leuta going behind Baker, who fumbled the recovery, gifting a try to England to make it 24-0.

But after that, the Eagles showed what they are capable of, with Baker scoring another long-range try when there was nothing on, and then Folau Niua scoring off a long period of good continuity. Unufe ended it al with an interception, but there was no time left.

So, all in all, the Eagles fumbled the ball too much, and yet they also showed they are as dangerous a quick-strike team as any on the circuit.

With the 4th-place finish, the USA earned 15 points in the World Series to bring their total to 86, good for 6th in the standings, and seven ahead of Plate runner’s-up Scotland.

This also was the 5th time that the Eagles had made the Cup Quarterfinals, and the second time this season they had made the Cup Semis.

The Eagles have no chance of making the top four and earning automatic qualification to the 2016 Olympic Games - Fiji, South Africa, and New Zealand have sewn up three of the four spots. England basically just has to avoid a complete meltdown in London to get the 4th spot for Great Britain.

But, this is going to be the USA’s best finish ever in the World Series. Only if Scotland does really well and the USA does really poorly will they slip to 7th.

More Notes: Zack Test did not play any more on Sunday after leaving the field injured. We’ll know more about his prognosis Monday. Friday started a changed team against England giving some regular starters time off and finding minutes for Matai Luta, Garrett Bender, and Nate Augspurger. All three had very good moments.

Madison Hughes is 2nd in the World Series with 231 points scored, with Fiji’s Osea Kolinisau leading. Carlin Isles is 7th in the World Series with 27 tries, with Test not far behind at 23 and Baker at 22.