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Late-season rally lifts 7s Eagles to 11th

Zack Test earned England 7s MVP honors as the US reached a third consecutive plate final, moving past Canada to claim 11th place on the final weekend of the 2012-13 World Series.

The late-season rally, featuring a pair of plate championships before Sunday's 14-5 loss to Fiji, has been good for 38 series points, better than half the USA's total over the 9-tournament season. Mid April, the US was tied for 13th, facing the prospect of having to re-qualify as a 'core' member of next year's world circuit and questions about the effectiveness of USARFU's Olympic Training Center program.

'If you look overall at the season, our goal was to build up as we went through the various tournaments', coach Alex Magleby said in a prepared statement prior to London. 'In the first four events we were ranked around 12th. [sic] The next four we were around 6th, and the last two we were in the top 3 behind New Zealand and South Africa in terms of points'.

England and Australia, which downed the US on the final play of their winner's bracket quarterfinal, surpassed the US in London, dropping the US to fifth over the final three tournaments -- still one of the USA's finer streaks on the 15-year-old world circuit.

The momentum could lift the Eagles to new highs at next month's 7s World Cup in Russia. The US, having drawn New Zealand, Canada, and Georgia in pool play of the 24-team tournament, has on 5 occasions finished no higher than tied for 13th.

More important, nosing ahead of the Maple Leafs is an encouraging sign for America's prospects of qualifying for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Only 11 teams (plus host Brazil) will reach the finals. Though the contentious process isn't to be declared until after the World Cup, it's likely the path to Rio de Janeiro will require the US to defeat Canada or perhaps Argentina, which finished 10th this year.

The Eagles finished 10th, 12th, and 11th, consecutively, in the 3 seasons prior to this one, meaning the just-concluded campaign is in line with recent performance. After the slow start, however, this year brought breakthrough wins against heavyweights Fiji and South Africa.

In London, the US bested France and the Blitzbokke, twice, the first time in series history the Eagles have topped this year's runnersup. But the Matt Hawkins-led side dropped a pair of winnable games to Australia, the latter shutting the US out of any semifinal berths for another season.

Nick Edwards scored 3 tries to finish the season tied for 18th on the world circuit, following a tournament-leading 8 tries a week earlier in Glasgow. Test, the team's runnerup, wound up 25th. Overall, the US finished 9th in team tries.

United States to England 7s
Andrew Durutalo, Nick Edwards, Matt Hawkins (captain), Colin Hawley, Luke Hume, Carlin Isles, Folau Niua, Blaine Scully, Shalom Suniula, Sione Pila Taufa, Zach Test, Brett Thompson
Staff: Alex Magleby (coach), Andy Katoa (manager), Brian Green (physiotherapist), Hamish Kerr (doctor)

Scots hold tiebreak edge in pivotal 7s tournament

Should it tie with or finish behind Scotland at this weekend's Glasgow tournament, the United States would probably miss out on the 12th and final automatic slot in the 2013-14 Sevens World Series.

The Scots start this season's penultimate round more than 90 match points better than the Eagles in the tiebreaking metric of points for minus points against, according to an International Rugby Board official.

Each team has 46 series points, 8 behind 11th-placed Canada. While it's possible that both the US and Scotland could top the Maple Leafs by 9 or more, it's happened just once this season.

Having finished 10th, 12th, and 11th, successively, since the 2009-10 season, falling to 13th two years after the introduction of US Olympic Committee funding would be a a major embarrassment for USARFU.

As only 12 teams (including host Brazil) will qualify for the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, placing among the top dozen is doubly significant.

Though the 9th round of the world circuit, the England 7s, is to be played next week, the three lowest regular teams will not be competing in London's championship bracket. Instead, the 13th-placed team, Portgual, and Spain will meet Georgia, Hong Kong, Russia, Tonga, and Zimbabwe in a competition to decide three automatic qualifiers for next season.

Glasgow and perhaps London are the final legs of a major test of the USARFU's so-called offsite residency program, under which the union has contracted more than 20 players over the past 2 seasons. Though salaries may not be quite so high as in 'Tier 1' nations, players and staff in San Diego as well as administrators and executives in Boulder are comparably professional; America's resources certainly would match up favorably with the five hopefuls.

The US has drawn France, Wales, and Russia this weekend, while host Scotland faces New Zealand, England, and Portugal. The pair cannot play head-to-head until Saturday's semifinal round.

United States to Scotland 7s
Andrew Durutalo (undeclared), Nick Edwards (undeclared), Jack Halalilo (East Palo Alto), Matt Hawkins (Old Aztecs), Colin Hawley (Olympic Club), Luke Hume (Old Blue), Carlin Isles (Gentlemen of Aspen), Folau Niua (undeclared), Blaine Scully (undeclared), Shalom Suniula (Belmont Shore), Zach Test (undeclared), Brett Thompson (Tempe)

Related:
San Diego residency plan for 7s Eagles
American citizenship required for USOC 7s program

Where are the overseas internationals?

Chris Wyles' 74th-minute try clinched Saracens' 32-27 win over Leicester Saturday, a match which saw the visitors score 4 second-half touchdowns.

With European interationals away for Six Nations games, scores of reserve players were thrust into Premiership lineups. The contest between 2d- and 3d-place teams produced one of the bigger comebacks in English history.

But Wyles and Northampton's Samu Manoa were the only Eagles in action. The scant total underlines that USARFU's 'player export' approach to improving the national team is stillborn.

The plan neither accounts for every other aspiring country having the same approach, nor addresses the twin problem of American players being low profile and yet counting against overseas player quotas. Moreover, when it comes to the inevitable club-country conflict, Boulder has often fared second-best: Manoa, like Biarritz wing Taku Ngwenya, has tended to side with his employer.

Last fall, Wyles became only the third Eagle player to reach 100 English games, joining forwards Dan Lyle and Mike MacDonald, according to This is American Rugby. Wyles, of English parentage, learned the sport after moving to greater London, however, and so can hardly be considered a product of American development.

Notwithstanding, the 29-year-old has played more games at fullback, 27, than any other American international and quietly moved to 7th on the all-time scoring list, with 9 tries and 101 points. It is not too much to say he merits mention among Mark Williams, Gary Hein, Vaea Anitoni, Kevin Dalzell, Phil Eloff, and Paul Emerick, the best of the Eagle backs.

7s Eagles climb to 13th with 3 tour stops to go

Matt Hawkins' Eagles scraped into the USA 7s winner's bracket, thereby climbing to 13th in the 7s World Series standings with 3 tour stops left.

As many as 8 teams on the circuit face the prospect of falling below 12th and so missing automatic qualification for all of the 2013-14 circuit. Perhaps not coincidentally, only a dozen teams will qualify for 2016's Summer Games 7s tournament, so missing next year's cut would be foreboding.

In Las Vegas, won by South Africa for the 2d time in 3 years, Folau Niua's conversion of Nick Edwards' try on the last play of Saturday's 22-7 pool-match win over Spain earned the US pool D's runnerup postion. Despite dropping matches to Australia and Samoa, 26-7 and 12-7 respectively, the Eagles advanced based on aggregrate points differential and so claimed 10 series points, lifting the season's total to 28.

Following a credible 21-19 quarterfinal defeat to Fiji, the Eagles could have nabbed at least 2 more, but squandered the winnable plate semifinal against Canada, 24-19 in overtime.

Poor tackling led to a 19-7 second-half deficit; failing to convert a centered try left the US tied at full time. After Zack Test's 4th-minute touchdown brought America to within 7, Luke Hume identified Niua many yards away, and seeking to conserve time, stepped up to take the normally automatic extras. The sensible tactic failed as Hume steered the ball underneath the crossbar.

Should this year's campaign falter, it may be tempting to cite Hume's miscue as the turning point. It will not be.

In next month's Hong Kong and Japan tournaments and May's Scotland event in May, there is ample opportunity to pass 12th-placed Scotland, 5 points ahead of the US; the Wallabies, 7 points ahead; and even the Maple Leafs, 11 in front.

Two quarterfinal berths should prove enough to avoid the re-qualification tournament, an 8-team affair at May's England 7s. The US has posted a 3-12 record in its last 3 outings, yet twice reached the top 8, collecting 21 points.

This suggests Alex Magleby's squad is sufficiently capable and even building momentum. Whatever the outcome of 2013's remaining 15 to 18 matches, the reflexive perspective may again focus on individual players.

In assessing a 7-month, 9-tournament campaign, however, scrutiny should comprehend USARFU's off-site residency program at the Olympic Training Center, particularly its premise that contracting a squad of 20 or so is the most effective way to get the most from America's playing base. The matter extends past the coach to the union's technical program and ultimately all the way to the board room.

Related: 7s Eagle development program underway in earnest

2013 Pacific Nations: What's old is new again

In reuniting the US and Canada with Fiji, Japan, and Tonga, 2013's revamped Pacific Nations Cup could revive some of Pacific Rim Championship's better features.

The May-June round-robin competition, announced yesterday by the International Rugby Board and participating unions, includes the test game's 11th- to 16th-ranked teams. All are World Cup regulars, most supply players to professional clubs in Europe (and sometimes the Antipodes), and Japan is one of the sport's best markets.

The grouping, which save for Samoa reprises the Pacific Rim of 1999-2001, features those countries most likely to break into world rugby's elite or expand its horizons. Much as it was a 17 years ago, when founded by the foursome of America, Canada, Hong Kong, and Japan.

Debuting one year after the 1995 world championship, which punctured rugby's antiquated amateur ethos, the bygone Pacific Rim was second only to the rise of professionalism itself in terms of impact among developing nations. A regular season outside the European calendar, opportunities for domestic referees and other personnel, consistent TV exposure, and commercial revenue and equity for the participating unions all sprang from the startup league.

In 1999, the competition extended to include the Pacific Islands, an ambition set aside four years earlier because of cost. For Fiji, Samoa, and Tonga, joining improved on regional triangulars while compensating for lost access to the Super 12. But the IRB, which pushed the case for expansion by committing to underwrite new expenditure, and in so doing took a 'golden share' in the Pacific Rim's ownership, wasn't prepared to sustain its role. The terms of expansion were the cause of demise.

The North Americans responded by joining England in the 2002 founding of the Churchill Alliance, while in 2003 Dublin sought to amalgamate China, Japan, Russia, and the US into the oddly conceived Super Powers Cup. An uncompetitive grouping with difficult logistics and little shared rugby heritage, the competition replaced China with Canada and Russia with Romania while turning into a knockout based entirely in Japan, before disappearing after 2005.

The Pacific Nations Cup launched in 2006 and has gone through four iterations and seven teams (plus a handful of New Zealand and Australian provinces) in the seven seasons since New Zealand 'A' captured the inaugural affair. Also dependent on monies from Dublin, its staying power owes to the latter-day IRB's more durable commitment to returning World Cup proceeds to member unions.

Samoa captured the 2012 edition. But this season the Manu Samoans will be 'on sabbatical', invited to play a quadrangular against Italy, Scotland, and host South Africa.

At the same time the Pacific Nations was getting underway, the Churchill Cup was persuaded to include more 'A' teams from the established powers. Canada and the US, often uncompetitive, couldn't sell it, leading weary England to withdraw its support after 2011. Last summer, for the first time since 1995, the Eagles played one-offs.

For USARFU, this summer's Pacific Nations not only restores a predictable test schedule that crowns the domestic 15s season, but also sets up a nearly apples-to-apples comparision with previous editions of its national team.

Since 2006 the Eagles have posted a 4-15 record against rival tier 2 countries, for a 21% winning percentage. By contrast, the US posted a 12-16 Pacific Rim record, a 43% winning percentage.

May 25's season-opener against Canada will be a 'non cap' game, played prior to the opening of June's so-called international window: that is, before Europe's professional clubs must release players for test duty. It falls on the same day as the final of USARFU's Elite Cup, the rump Rugby Super League competition.

June's travel schedule is worthy of past Pacific Rims. After Ireland in Houston on the 8th, the US plays Tonga in Salt Lake City on the 15th, and then 2 games in 5 days in Japan: Fiji on the 19th and the Cherry Blossoms on the 23d.

TV programming for the 2013 Pacific Nations tournament has not been determined, according to IRB and union officials. Queries regarding officiating assignments were unanswered.

In Canada, the British Columbian union is reviving the McKechnie Cup among its subunions. Vancouver this weekend travels to Vancouver Island to resume a competition founded in 1896, and dormant since 2004. 

Summer Eagle slate pivotal to World Cup cycle

The national team's spring-summer 2013 schedule, all but announced, looks be its most important slate during the 4-year-cycle leading to the 2015 Rugby World Cup.

The docket includes a non-cap match against Canada in May; Ireland, Tonga, Fiji, and Japan in June; and home-and-away RWC qualifiers against Canada in July. The Irish game is to be in Houston, the Tongan in Salt Lake City, and the home Canadian contest in Atlanta, US coach Mike Tolkin last month told This is American Rugby.

Winning the summer qualifying series means immediate advancement to Pool D, which would allow the US to set its own schedule in 2014, rather than play further qualifying matches. Also, USARFU would receive a first round of RWC participation monies.

Earlier, the Pacific Nations matches -- the revived Pacific Rim Championship, minus Samoa -- represent the opportunity to regain ground in the International Rugby Board rankings. Since 2006, the US has lost 15 of 19 matches against fellow 'tier 2' countries.

The governing body awards no ranking points for close defeats, but does base subsidies in part on international outcomes. IRB monies accounts for more than one-fifth of USARFU's annual budget, according to the union's most recent audit statement.

The Ireland match will be judged against 2009's 27-10 loss in Santa Clara, California, also a year when the Irish first string were away with the British and Irish Lions. It too holds consequences for USARFU's hopes of transforming the national XV into revenue engine. Based on last summer's Italy match, the gate is likely to be strong; but sponsors prefer to associate with a winning, or at least an improving, team.

The spring campaign could kick off with a one-off match against South Africa's Golden Lions, who are to visit Vancouver and then Irvine, California, in April, according Rugby Magazine and other published reports. The former Transvaal province lost its Super Rugby franchise after the 2012 season, and so is looking for new avenues. Using domestic internationals and 'A' players, USARFU would contribute half of an invitational XV.

In 2012, the Eagles posted a 3-3 record, besting Georgia, Russia, and Romania while falling to Canada, Italy, and Tonga. The net effect was to secure the USA's place in world rugby's unofficial second division.

United States of America: Possible 2013 Spring-Summer Schedule
May 25    Canada A (vs USA A)    Edmonton
June 8     Ireland                       Houston: BBVA Stadium
June 14   Tonga                         Salt Lake City: Rio Tinto Stadium
June 19   Fiji                             Japan: undeclared
June 23   Japan                         Japan: undeclared
July 20    Canada                       Atlanta: Kennesaw St. Univ.
July 27/8  Canada                     Toronto

7s Eagle development program underway in earnest

The 7s national team's development initiative is up and running, with more than a dozen non-roster players and three outside coaches participating in this week's San Diego training camp.

Authored by coach Alex Magleby, the former Dartmouth and College All-American coach now in his first full year at the Eagle helm, the so-called Olympic Development Program is effectively the first expansion of senior or collegiate *domestic* representative play since USARFU's restructuring in 2006.

Announced last month, it comprises six regionally elite, privately managed teams that collaborate with the national squad based at the Olympic Training Center in San Diego. The purpose of these 'academies' is to provide competition outside the domestic summer 7s season, year-long coaching and fitness training, and related supervision so that players who are not contracted with USARFU are ready to step into 7s World Series teams.

USARFU retains 15 athletes in an 'off-site residency' program at the OTC, for a reported 20,000 per annum plus amenities, while another 3 athletes receive regular stipends. The terms can be onerous, such that some elite players have declined contracts.

Meanwhile, the 7s Eagles routinely use more than 30 athletes during the course of a 7s World Series season, according to Magleby, meaning at least one-third of US internationals would come from outside the OTC environment.

Academy players are expected to compete in 50 matches per year, roughly double the college or senior player's campaign. The schedule is to feature high-level, out-of-season tournaments such as the Las Vegas Invitational, staged next month in conjunction with the USA 7s, and hopefully some international events.

A USA 'A' squad called the Falcons will appear in Vegas, as will entrants from the academies: Emerging Tigers (Columbus, Ohio, and Long Beach, California), Glendale (Colorado), and Serevi Rugby (Chicago, San Diego, and Seattle).

The academies do not reach the entire country, however, as there are no programs on the Eastern seaboard as well as the deep South (including Texas). Several organizations have expressed interest, Magleby said in an interview.

Some 87 7s players are presently monitored on a national depth chart, Magleby said.

2013 USA 7s Contracted Players
Nate Augspurger, Andrew Durutalo, Nick Edwards, Tai Enosa, Jack Halalilo, Matt Hawkins, Colin Hawley, Luke Hume, Carlin Isles, Folau Niua, Blaine Scully, Shalom Suniula, Mike T'eo, Zack Test. Brett Thompson. Maka Unufe

Olympic Development Program: January 2013 San Diego Roster
Gabe Adler, Michael Garvey, Dean Gericke, Kellen Gordon, Kyle Hitt, Madison Hughes, Elliot Joses, Leland Hunter, Rocco Mauer, Zach Pangelinan, Nick Schwieger, Tyler Spitz, Alex Taefu, Pila Taufa, Keone Tawata, Pete Tiberio, Dustin Umeda, Taylor Welch

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.

7s Eagles persist in day-one slump

(Dubai) Day-one woes continued as the 7s Eagles again scored but 5 tries, en route to a second consecutive 0-3 start and a bowl semifinal exit.

The US has dropped 16 of its last 18 opening-day matches on the Sevens World Series, and failed to reach the winner's bracket for 2 full years, since Dubai's 2010 edition. By consequence, most of the squad has little experience playng meaningful pool-round or knockout matches, the kind that test decision making as well as athleticism and fitness.

On this second leg of 2012-13's nine-tournament series, Alex Magleby's charges lost seemingly narrow matches to Australia and France, 19-12 and 17-14, respectively, before capitulating to Canada 26-7. Mediocre team speed and tepid support running, however, made the first two contests seem uphill battles, as breaks were few and the Eagles turned the ball over at key junctures.

On Saturday, the US prevailed over Spain 14-12 in a mistake-filled contest, and then chased South Africa right to the end of a 22-14 contest.

'I thought the team improved through the tournament, and showed more character than [at] the Gold Coast [tournament in Australia]. That is most important and I think has to come first if we are to build a championship-consistent team,' second-year head coach Alex Magleby observed in an email.

Colin Hawley, who ran clever lines, and unrelenting Matt Hawkins were most notable among the 12-man squad, along with the fleet substitute Colin Isles, whose 5 tries in 2 tournaments are the team high, but no better than tied for 21st on the circuit. No American is among the top 25 scorers.

More important, the US lies in 15th place, lowest of the so-called core teams. Though the world circuit's standings can change almost fast as the game itself, the target is finishing 12th or better by the end of round 8 in Glasgow, Scotland, so as to avoid a promotion-relegation tournament in London.

This coming weekend in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, the US faces Canada, surprising Portugal, and Zimbabwe, which does not regularly play on the Sevens World Series. The comparatively easy pool D may be just the ticket for the Eagles to end their slump.

In Texas, Arkansas State captured USARFU's collegiate 7s title, outpointing Life College 21-7. Delaware topped St. Mary's for third.

Americas Rugby Championship a winless campaign

Uruguay upended USA 'A' 26-8 in the final round of the Americas Rugby Championship, sending the shadow Eagles home from British Columbia winless.

In scoring just 14 points while conceding 88 to the Teros and equivalent Argentine and Canadian reserve sides, the Mike Tolkin-led squad was a competitive disappointment.

Yet the primary metric for any development side is whether players bolster the senior ranks. How many from the 26-man roster will make next month's European squad to face Russia, Tonga, and Romania? Shall they improve the test team?

Approximately 36 months remain before the next World Cup squad will be named. Most leading countries aim to have the balance of their team in place 18 months beforehand, in order to refine core strategies, test various player combinations and account for injuries, and so on. So, even if enlarging the scenario, the US has a little less than two full seasons.

It's also important to understand where these 'A' squad players are coming from.

Forwards Derk Asbun, Taylor Mokate, and Tony Purpura along with halfback Shaun Davies have already earned international honors, while Miles Craigwell and Zach Pangelinan have been 7s Eagles. Forwards Cam Dolan and Tom Katzfey plus scrumhalf Benny Mateialona have been among senior USA training squads.

The squad's average age was a bit over 24. That projects to 27 in 2015, more or less the same as the 2011 (27.6) and 2007 (27.9) squads.

The three youngest -- 21-year-olds Joe Cowley, Dean Gericke, and Gearoid McDonald -- either hold British passports or are playing abroad. The 2011 edition notably comprised the second-highest total of imported players, behind Samoa.

Next month, the US meets Russia on November 9 and Tonga on November 17, both in remote Colwyn Bay, Wales, and then Romania on November 9.

Americas Rugby Championship Squad
Forwards: Derek Asbun (Rosslyn Park), Nick Civetta (New York AC), Cam Dolan (captain, Life Univ.), Eric Duechle (Belmont Shore), Zach Fenoglio (Glendale),Graham Harriman (Chicago Griffins), Kris Headlee (Life Univ.), Tom Katzfey (Life Univ.), Stan Moaalii (Glendale), Taylor Mokate (USA Rugby 7s), Tim Paulsen (Chicago Griffins), Tony Purpura (Boston), John Quill (Boston), Nick Wallace (St. Mary's College)
Backs: Chris Chapman (Sydney Univ.), Casey Clark (undeclared), Joe Cowley (Life Univ.), Miles Craigwell (Old Puget Sound Beach), Shaun Davies (Brigham Young Univ.), Cornelius Dirksen (Life Univ.), Dean Gericke (Arkansas State), Gearoid McDonald (Old Belvedere), Benny Mateialona (Life Univ.), Zac Mizell (Arkansas State), Zach Pangelinan (OMBAC), Jack Tracy (Belmont Shore)