The Eagles 7s team was disappointing Sunday in Sydney, losing two games thanks to poor tackling and a loss of composure.

The Eagles had a chance to make something happen early against New Zealand, especially when Tim Mikkelson was sin-binned. But the two minutes of being a man up frittered away because the Eagles got caught up in a shoving match with Sonny Bill Williams. Somehow the referee felt that was all OK, and the USA team failed to score when in the New Zealand 22, and that was pretty much it.

Carlin Isles was well-corralled, although it wasn't his fault he was hit in the head (no call there, either), and too many missed tackles and turnovers gave New Zealand a 24-7 victory.

So, on to the Plate Semis, where the USA looked unstoppable in the first half, with Isles scoring two spectacular tries, and Zack Test scoring another for a 21-0 lead.

But in the second half, staring into the sun the Americans couldn't win the restarts. Kenya scored in the opening minute of the half, and scored again, exposing at times Will Holder, Madison Hughes, Test, and Isles for their below-standard tackling.

With less than a minute to go, Kenya scored their 4th try to go up 24-21. The USA had one more shot, but Matai Leuta knocked the restart forward, and that was the ballgame.

The USA team comes out of Wellington and Sydney with two top-eight finishes, but plenty of imperfections, too. They lost their composure against Kenya as they saw the game slipping away, and ended up complaining to the referee rather than chasing back on defense. They didn't play as a unit, and the loss of Martin Iosefo, who didn't play Sunday, hurt them.

The result is that while making the Cup Quarterfinals, they didn't go any further, finishing 0-4 on the second day, slipping one more place to 7th in the standings, having gone into Wellington in 3rd. 

For a team that had won in London and finished 3rd in Dubai, it is just not good enough. No one is running in support - players aren't trusting each other, and maybe they shouldn't given the number of missed tackles everyone is committing.