After losing to Wales in the Bowl quarterfinal, the USA Eagles slipped down to compete for the Shield. In the semi-final they were unable to overcome Scotland, falling 14-12, despite having a one-man advantage for almost the last two minutes. Even with Roland Suniula’s two tries against Scotland, the Eagles will go home bitterly disappointed at being winless in Wellington.
By USA Rugby - The 12-man rugby sevens squad heading to Guadalajara, Mexico will be engrained with a mantra that will help it maintain focus in the quadrennial tournament: ‘Play in the moment.’
“Playing in the moment helps every athlete and staff member focus on the task at hand. Not to get distracted by the environment, from peripheral things we don’t have control over,” said USA Head Coach, Al Caravelli. “If we take care of the little things the big things take care of themselves.”
That mentality will be put into practice on the field on October 29 when the team will see Brazil, Chile, and rivals Canada in pool play. Their record from the first day will determine which teams they will face in the playoffs on October 30. The other pool consists of Argentina, Mexico, Uruguay, and Guyana.
Caravelli continued to say that the Pan-Am environment itself can be distracting, but the players must maintain focus. As part of United States Olympic Committee and the guild of athletes and sports under the Team USA moniker, the USA Men’s Eagle Sevens team will compete in its first Olympic-style rugby sevens tournament. The Pan Am Games take place every four years and will serve as an Americas preview of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“You can imagine that in a multisport event with over 2,000 athletes, we have to be prepared for anything and everything to be thrown at us. On the field of play, we will not take anyone lightly. Every game we play, we’ll have the attitude that it is a final, the players have embraced this and are executing.”
Photo Credit: Eagles XV
By Dallen Stanford
Toronto – Despite a late comeback from the Eagles, Canada held on for a 28-22 win in front of a record crowd of more than 10,000 at BMO Field. In so doing Canada retain the Can/Am Trophy. The match was aired LIVE on TSN in Canada and Universal Sports in America.
The USA produced some excellent passages of play, scoring three team tries in the process.
Eagles Head Coach, Eddie O’Sullivan, said: “We are disappointed, it would have been great to get the win here in Toronto. We let in a couple of tries from very simple errors that really hurt us, and put ourselves under pressure. But we responded well and got back into the game,”
The Eagles will travel back to Glendale, Colorado, tomorrow for what will be a very busy week. The USA Select XV will play the Glendale Raptors on Wednesday August 10 at Infinity Park. Then on Saturday, August 13, the Eagles will take on Canada at the same venue, with kick-off at 7.15 P.M. This match will be broadcast LIVE – both online and on television – through Universal Sports.
“There were plenty of positives against Canada. Our scrum was very solid and our line-out fired well for the most part. We scored some good tries, and with more time together, the team cohesiveness will only improve. We have one week to fine tune things before the return match,” said O’Sullivan.
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The last two tournaments of the HSBC Sevens World Series are approaching, and U.S. Coach Al Caravelli has opted for experience in his team selection.
The London tournament, starting May 21, is up first, followed by Edinburgh from May 28-29.
And, according to Jerrod Beckstrom of USA Rugby, a departure from the typically young team picks for the final stops of the Series (often smattered with freshly out-of-school collegiate players), the 12-player squad he has named this year is steeped in speed, experience, size and physicality.
The only player in the squad from the college ranks is Cameron Dolan, the dominant eight man for Life University’s College Premier Division side who has been on Caravelli’s radar since Dolan was an Under-17 player.
“Cam is a unique kind of player,” said Caravelli of the 21-year-old Dolan. “He’s a true forward with the speed of a back. I’m excited to see him break onto the international scene.”
Mike Palefau and Nese Malifa are back in top form according to their coach, and their considerable experience and expertise will be an asset to the team, if in limited capacity as they transition back to international rugby. The last time Malifa was with the squad was last year in Adelaide, when the USA played in its first-ever Cup final in Adelaide after beating England, Wales and Argentina. Palefau’s last time with the team was in 2009.
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