The United States dropped to 0-2 in Glasgow with an uncompetitive 26-0 loss to Scotland. The defeat, preceded by a loss to last-place Spain, turns what looked like a winnable pool before the tournament into a vehicle to the Bowl Quarterfinals.
Scotland won the opening restart, and three phases later, each on opposite halves of the field, Lee Jones was in for a try in the corner. The difficult conversion was hit by Colin Gregor, putting the Eagles down 7-0 with just over a minute played.
Scotland won the next restart, too, and Zack Test was pinged for diving over at the ruck. The threat was ended, however, when Danny Barrett and Pono Haitsuka pressured Scotland at the breakdown, forcing a penalty the other direction.
The Eagles couldn't turn that rare bit of fortune into much of an attack, and they continued to find themselves on the wrong side of the whistle for the rest of the half. Nick de Luca added to the Scotland lead when he slid over right on halftime to make it 14-0 after the conversion.
Things didn't get much better in the second half. As Mike Palefau, who made a tackle, was poaching the ball at a ruck, he was nailed for being offside. Scotland, playing with a more apparent sense of urgency, turned it into Jones's second try.
Chris Dean went over shortly thereafter, when he picked up a deftly laid grubber kick in the try zone.
Down 26-0, the Eagles had their first clear shot at a try. Haitsuka had Brett Thompson outside of him and the last Scottish defender in front of him. Instead of moving the ball to the wing, Haitsuka took it into contact and lost it.
In the day's opener against Spain, a 17-7 loss, Series debutant Will Holder scored his first try as a 7s Eagle. The USA went into halftime tied 7-7 with Spain, but was shut out in the second stanza.