The amazing story of the U.S. Eagles continued, with an outright victory in the HSBC Sevens Series leg in Las Vegas, Nevada (USA), giving the American squad the outright lead in the seasonal standings at the halfway mark of the season.
This came after four straight second-place finishes, losing twice each to New Zealand and Fiji. But this time, the U.S. hammered surprise finalist Samoa, 27-0, to win its first title since the Las Vegas stop last season.
“If we’re going to win one of them then the one at home was the one we wanted,” said U.S. captain Madison Hughes. “It feels so good, having missed out on it last year when I was up in the box [injured]. So now to be here on the field feels pretty good.
“I’m so proud. That final shows that the first day didn’t really go the way we wanted it to but there was such good fight in the quarter-finals, semi-finals and final. It feels pretty amazing to be out here now.”
New Zealand and Australia were the only squads to go undefeated in pool play, and the U.S. ended up second on its group with a 2-1 record after losing to Argentina, 26-24. But in the quarterfinals, the U.S. sprinted past South Africa, 29-10, and then edged New Zealand, 24-19 before winning in the final against Samoa.
Carlin Isles was the hero for the U.S. in the New Zealand match, scoring three tries, and Hughes had two crucial conversions. The Kiwis took a quick 12-0 lead, but a Folau Niua try in the sixth minute turned the game around and the U.S. had a 14-12 halftime lead and held on.
In the final, the Eagles got a second-minute score from Ben Pinkelman and never looked back, with a 10-0 halftime edge. Pinkelman also added a second try for the U.S. and would up the leading scorer in the game.
New Zealand won its bronze medal match against Argentina, 26-19 and Fiji ended up in fifth place.
The U.S. now has a 98-93-84 lead over New Zealand and Fiji; this is an especially important season since the top four will automatically qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
