What Eagles Have to Do

The USA Men’s 7s team enters Day Two at the Nelson Mandela Bay 7s in Port Elizabeth, South Africa with a big job to do.

Job #1, win a game. Ideally the first one. When you’re stuck in the Bowl Quarterfinals, winning the first game is the most important thing you can do. Winning the first game guarantees you at least five points in the World Series standings, and as many as eight.

Lose the first game, and you can’t get more than three points.

So Sunday morning’s clash with Spain (2:17AM PT, 5:17AM ET, live webstream here) is huge.

To beat Spain, something Canada failed to do on Saturday, the USA has to take care of a couple of things:

1. Secure the restarts kicked to you. That means players who can jump need to move to get in position, and players need to be around to get the tap back.

2. Decide whether you trust your teammates or not. Right now, the Eagles don’t trust each other, so they are passing to the man, not for the man. As a result, we see a lot of flat-footed catches. But worse than that, once that happens, players stop accelerating to passes – why should they? The passes are too deep! So then when a player sends a leading pass, the catchers don’t accelerate, and the ball hits the ground.

So let’s start over. Passers need to trust catchers, and catchers need to trust passers. Accelerate onto a good pass, and guess what? Tries.

3. Players who used to tackle opponents in college or club rugby with the weight of their body have found they can’t do that in the World Series. So a 180-pound guy jumping on a ballcarrier’s back does not bring the ballcarrier down. A grab around the ankle while you lie on the ground like a banana slug won’t do anything. And that face-level reach for the shoulder? Fend. Goodbye.

Young players need to hit opponents around the middle and drive them into the ground. That works.

4. Standing over the ball and holding isn’t enough in a ruck. You have to be rock-solid, and ruck angry. Be prepared to be hit as hard as you ever have in your life. And stand your ground no matter what.


And finally, there has to be some urgency early. This team is starting to get used to losing. That’s a dangerous place to be. Put Spain away now, Eagles. You can do that; you have the ability. Just hit those rucks, drive through those tackles, and make good passes.


Live webstream here

1st Round of games Sunday in Port Elizabeth:

4:11amET - 1:11amPT  Australia v Zimbabwe    QF Bowl
4:33amET - 1:33amPT  Wales v Canada    QF Bowl
4:55amET-1:55amPT   England v Scotland    QF Bowl
5:17amET-2:17amPT   Spain v United States    QF Bowl
5:39amET-2:39amPT   Fiji v Samoa     QF Cup
6:01amET-3:01amPT   New Zealand v Kenya    QF Cup
6:23amET-3:23amPT    Argentina v France    QF Cup
6:45amET-3:45amPT   South Africa v Portugal    QF Cup