Weird Road to Quarterfinals for USA Men in Vancouver
THE USA men squeaked into the CUp Quarterfinals in Vancouver despite one of the most lopsided losses in their history.
The Eagles, having played poorly in LA, started off the Canada 7s in Vancouver even worse, getting thumped 52-0 by New Zealand. Were the All Blacks 7s on a roll, or were there problems in the USA side?
Small Moments and USA Finishes 13th
In the end, the USA finished 13th at the LA 7s.
That's 3-3, but the three losses came at bad times. Whether Day One has been good or not, your first game on Day Two has to be a good one. It wasn't for the Eagles and they lost to Spain.
We detail much of what went wrong in that game here:
Not Good Enough; Eagles Slip in LA Mud
After putting together a string of results that were, quite frankly, a pleasant surprise, the USA Men’s 7s team is just playing some bad rugby.
Gone is much in the way of variety of play. Gone is the idea that time and space are precious.
Analysis/Opinion by Alex Goff
Friday Reflects on Brutal Series, LA Expectations
The USA Men’s 7s team were 2nd in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series before Sydney, and then dropped to 7th.
Little issues with the team’s performance made that big change.
“It’s just ruthless,” said USA Head Coach Mike Friday. “If you get things slightly wrong, a couple of ball presents wrong, that’s the difference between winning and losing.”
Unpredictable Men's World Series Unprecedented
Well we almost predicted it.
Goofing around with the Men’s World Series Standings we speculated that we might see all of the top teams tied … or at least most within a point of each other.
That second scenario is basically happening.
