USA Eagles v France

Competition Singapore Sevens
Time Sat, 16/04/2016
Location The National Stadium
Referee Richard Kelly

SINGAPORE - The Men's Eagles Sevens have it all to do to reach the HSBC Singapore Sevens Cup Quarterfinals following a 19-17 loss to France Saturday.

Madison Hughes scored his third and fourth tries of the weekend in the defeat, which puts the U.S. in a precarious position heading into the final match of Pool B against New Zealand. The Eagles must beat or draw the Kiwis at 5:48 a.m. ET to reach their 10th consecutive Cup round on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.

Both teams came into the match fresh from wins in which they scored at least four tries, but took nearly five minutes to get over the try line in the second fixture. The Eagles enjoyed an extended attack behind the French 22 in the second minute thanks to several penalties, but Danny Barrett was eventually taken into touch five meters from the line.

France cleared the ball down field before the teams traded turnovers, with Virimi Vakatawa committing a forward pass at his side's defensive 10. The U.S. captain took the ball straight from the scrum and darted toward the corner, beating three defenders in the process to score the opening try.

The Eagles' opposition negated the advantage prior the halftime whistle - a gong at National Stadium - via Vakatawa, who was able to beat Folau Niua at sweeper in the seventh minute.

France was first to break the 5-5 deadlock in the second frame, capitalizing on a U.S. turnover at midfield. Stephen Parez kept his head up to spot a slight gap in the Eagles' defense and ran to the posts, where Zack Test made a diving tackle ahead of the try line. The French attacker was able to make one move during the slide forward to dot the ball down behind the paint.

The 12-5 score line did not last a minute, as Niua lost the restart to Vakatawa for a 19-5 France lead. The Eagles did better to keep ball in hand for the remaining minutes of the second half, though, swinging the ball with confidence through bullet and skip passes alike. Test offloaded to a streaking Hughes 15 meters in front of the posts to bring the score to 19-12 before Baker became the beneficiary of a France penalty in the 13th minute for the 19-17 final.

The only team in Pool B without a loss, France, nails down one of the pool's two spots in the Cup Quarterfinals, with the second to be decided between the Eagles and New Zealand. The match is scheduled for a 5:48 a.m. ET kickoff, with the live broadcast available online on World Rugby's website.

Men's Eagles Sevens | v. France

1. Nate Ebner

2. Pat Blair

3. Danny Barrett

4. Garrett Bender

5. Zack Test

6. Peter Tiberio

7. Folau Niua

8. Maka Unufe

9. Nate Augspurger

10. Madison Hughes (C)

11. Perry Baker