Hume addition helps US to South African quarterfinals

The USA downed short-handed Canada and Zimbabwe in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, to reach a Sevens World Series tournament quarterfinal for the first time since 2010.

The outcome lifts the 7s Eagles to 3 places to 12th on the world circuit, after 3 of this year's 8 regular-season tournaments. Twelfth carries automatic qualification for the 2013-14 campaign, whereas the 3 lowest of the 15 'core' teams face a season-end qualifying tournament.

In South Africa, the Eagles slumped out of the gate, conceding three first-half tries to Portugal, all converted, in a 26-12 loss. Over the past three campaigns, the US has been a poor day-one performer.

In the Canadian match, the tournament's pivotal contest, Maple Leaf playmaker Phil Mack was dismissed with his side holding a 7-0 first-half lead. Luke Hume, the 15s wing who supplanted Mike Te'o from the Dubai roster and, after the opening loss, took Shalom Suniula's starting position, promptly ran in a pair of converted touchdowns to pace the US to a 26-12 victory.

Jack Halalilo scored a pair in day's one final, a 21-17 win over Zimbabwe.

'We were a bit loose with the ball and we made it hard for ourselves, especially in the first half against Portugal. We started to wake up in the second half and then continued to play better in the last two games', coach Alex Magleby said in a prepared statement.

On day two, South Africa dismissed the US from the cup 17-7, while Wales captured a 26-19 contest with 13 seconds left in their plate semifinal, an intercept try proving the difference.

With England a surprising 13th, yet to reach the winner's bracket this campaign and therefore highly likely to move up, at least one from among the US, 11th-ranked Canada, and 9th-place Portugal figure to be in jeopardy. Magleby's charges probably will need to reach the quarterfinals twice more in the next five tournaments to be sure of avoiding a June re-qualifier in London.

UCLA joined the Varsity Cup, alongside Air Force, BYU, Cal, Dartmouth, Navy, Notre Dame, and Utah. Expected to be staged over three weekends in April and early May, the knockout competition is independent of USARFU's division 1A postseason.

Comments

[dumbdumbdumb]

Shouldnt the title read; "Hume costs the Eagles a shot in the Plate Finals with insane cross field pass..."

Glad he's back to sevens, but holy crap that was dumb.

[Johnny]

LOL. I agree that Hume is a benefit to the squad but that is a hilarious heading.

[curious]

How is Kenya better then the US in sevens?

[Canadian Bacon]

Hume is awesome. He's a blatant poach but brings a great attitude to playing for the Eagles. Constantly talks smack about the Canadians and managed to goad one of them into a red card in Port Elizabeth. Yeah, he made a mistake against Wales and he makes other mistakes from time to time, but he's by far the most creative player on the team and his line-breaking ability combined with Isles to finish could become a lethal combo.

[Buford Pusser]

Hume is the Honey Bo Bo of Eagles rugby... pure hillbilly redneck white trash tea party bulls#$t.

[7's vs 15's]

bufford,
ease back on the 'shine.....and how did you manage to get politics into reviewing a players performance?

[Laughing at Buford Pussfilled]

Buford worked it in after he got laid out last summer by some short-shite, balding winger with tatts everywhere...

[college]

Here's a cool fact: Miles Craigwell discovered rugby when he saw the first CRC 7s on TV at a bar. Carlin Isles discovered rugby when he saw a video of Miles Craigwell on youtube. What gems will Isles' youtube viral hit uncover? I for one cant wait to see.

[Working Class Rugger]

@curious

The Kenyan program and most of those in in are full time professionals. It wouldn't be too much more than the 7s contracts in the States but when converted into the Kenyan Dollar its a decent enough sum.

They also have what it a comparatively large sponsorship's with a couple of Kenya's largest companies (Airline and Brewery) that gives them the ability to fully fund all aspects of their program.

@college

It will be interesting to see if more athletes do take up the game chasing the Olympic dream as a result of the viral nature of Isles highlight reel. I think it could be a definite possibility, the min issue will be to develop some Rugby nous in them.

[College]

Isles has an agent now. Hope he isnt off to the NFL. but i dont see much holding him back. Either way, this will make rugby a legitimate option to a lot more athletes than before.