Fiji defeated the USA 31-26 in overtime of the Cup Quarterfinals in the Canada 7s in Vancouver, taking advantage of a couple of lucky breaks to break some USA hearts.

The Eagles started off superbly in this game, winning their opening kickoff thanks to Danny Barrett and Ben Pinkelman, and then seeing Madison Hughes bounce through a half-break and feed Martin Iosefo at pace for the try under the posts.

They were almost back doing the same thing moments later, but Pinkelman got a pass to his face and dropped it.

Still the USA seemed to be controlling things nicely, and a well-execute tackle-and-poach from Folau Niua and Hughes produced a turnover that almost sent Perry Baker to paydirt. The speedy winger was stopped, but the ball went out to Pinkelman, who wrapped two hands around the ball and trundled in.

Up 12-0, the Eagles knew they had to work to keep the lead, and Fiji did manage to score. An iffy call - Niua was pinged for a late hit after a kick when it seemed more like incidental contact - led Fiji to get into the corner. They didn’t score, and lost the ball, but then got the ball back and finally touched down.

With time almost up in the first half, Fiji got the ball again, and looked all set to score. Somehow, though, the USA defense held, and forced a drop. The ball was shipped quickly out to Baker, who weaved his way through several Fijians before he was tackled around midfield. Fiji was penalized, and then seconds later penalized again for a tip tackle. So the half continued, and Niua grubbered through for Baker to chase. He didn’t quite get there, but Fiji was penalized for hitting the ball into touch deliberately, and from that penalty Garrett Bender powered over. 

So it was 19-5 at halftime, and an indication that the USA team wanted to go for the jugular. Fiji, however, had other plans, and a beautiful chip-and-chase from Kitione Taliga off a penalty made it 19-12. Snappier offloads by the Fijians led to another try and a tie at 19-19.

But right after that good hands out to Baker put the wing in for his sixth try of the weekend, and it seemed that maybe the Eagles would pull it out.

Not so fast. One more from Fiji, with Jasa Veremalua going in, and then in OT, the Americans failed to retain their kick - something they’ve been doing all weekend - and Fiji took their time to put Savenaca Rawaca in for his second.

Winning restarts has led to tries and wins for the USA, but when key restarts didn't go to hand, Fiji punished the Eagles. David Barpal photo.

It was, overall, a very good game for the USA. They were right there, and perhaps, had they not knocked on right at the end of regulation, they could have done enough to win the game. But it was also a frustrating game, because they lost it.

“It was disappointing,” said Coach Mike Friday. “Unfortunately it’s a game of small margins, and unfortunately we didn’t get over the line at critical moments.”

Mike Friday did not use any subs in the game, which is rare.

“It would have been subs for subs’ sake,” explained the coach. “I would have been a hard game to jump into. I was looking, and sometimes you want to make a change for the change’s sake, and it felt like the ebb and flow was right. When Perry went over I thought we’d done enough, but they’re a wily old bunch the Fijians.”

Next up for the Eagles, then, is Wales in the Plate Semifinals at 2:24pm PT.