USA Kicked To The Curb In OT: Four Left In Men's RWC 7s
USA Kicked To The Curb In OT: Four Left In Men's RWC 7s
Four are left in the Rugby World Cup, all excellent teams, and none wearing an Eagle on its chest.
The USA men are out of contention for Gold at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in San Francisco after losing 24-19 to England in sudden death overtime.
The Eagles were stymied quite effectively in several areas of play, notably in keeping Perry Baker bottled up, and in contesting the breakdown. But where England really shone was at the restart, where the guys with roses on their jerseys were not afraid to challenge the Americans in the air.
As a result, England won some key restarts, including one at the beginning of the second half that produced a try and a 19-7 lead. The USA actually opened the scoring - Martin Iosefo almost dropped a pass to him on the wing, but that bobble seemed to stop the defense for half a step. That was all Iosefo needed to break around the outside and then fire a perfect pass infield for Madison Hughes.
Maka Unufe after a tough overtime loss to England. The USA guys are gutted pic.twitter.com/LlvD6uFZ8v
— FloRugby (@FloRugby) July 22, 2018
But after that, England controlled possession and field position well. They scored quickly through Dan Norton and again through their speedster right at the end of the first half. Then Oliver Lindsay-Hague capitalized on a restart kick that Maka Unufe said he should have caught.
"That's my job," he said. Down 19-7, the USA fought back. Folau Niua followed on well to pounce on a loose ball, and then, finally, Baker was able to find some room.
But penalties for the USA did not produce attacking opportunities as England was also able to disrupt the USA lineout - another point of pride. In overtime, the Eagles gave up possession, and then Phil Burgess ran under a perfect kick from Tom Mitchell to catch and score.
The USA now plays for 5th and will face Scotland at 11:12 am on Sunday.
— FloRugby (@FloRugby) July 21, 2018
Joining England through to the semis are New Zealand, South Africa, and Fiji. Both South Africa (36-5 over Scotland), and Fiji (43-7 over Argentina) looked untouchable. New Zealand had to battle back from a 7-0 deficit to edge France 12-7.
Some stats from the quarterfinals:
Most Points: Fiji, 43
Most Tackles Made: New Zealand, 22 (England had 21)
Most Tackles Missed: Argentina, 18
Best Tackle %: New Zealand 84%
Worst Tackle %: Argentina 45%
Ball Given Away The Most Times: France 13 (New Zealand had 12)
Most Errors: New Zealand, 6
Complete Passes: USA 56