The USA Men’s Sevens entered a new era for the program as they kicked off the season at Emirates Dubai SVNS. Under Simon Amor’s new leadership, five players made their series debut and David Still III made a statement return to the sevens pitch.
Despite the new-looking squad and challenges ahead, the Eagles were determined to make their mark. The tournament proved to be a test of resilience, and while the Eagles faced some tough losses, they showed flashes of potential—particularly with debut tries from Porter Goodrum and Darrell Williams.
On wrapping up the tournament and work ons for Cape Town, Head Coach Simon Amor said, “it was a brilliant learning experience–tough day at the office and didn’t quite get on the right end of all the close results. But given five guys making their debuts, the world series is a competitive place and right now is a great opportunity to learn. We showed on some occasions some really great stuff but made too many mistakes and that’s because of our inexperience as a new team. But I’m proud of how the boys stuck and kept scrapping on. We weren’t perfect but we kept on fighting.
“We’ve got a couple injuries to assess that hit us throughout the competition, and were down quite a few early on. But I was pleased with the resilience the guys showed in terms of not letting that affect them. Ultimately our one on one tackling is an area we need to improve upon if we want to be successful. And we want to eradicate some of those small handling errors. I’m pretty confident that the combinations will gel with a fair bit of work over the next week and going forward.”
The USA met New Zealand for their first match of the season. The All Blacks had control first, winning their own kick off to work around Eagles defense. A knock on brought the ball to a USA scrum, but they were too slow at the breakdown, leaving an exposed ball for New Zealand to pick up the first score of the game. The All Blacks were dominant in the match even on defense, scattering USA’s attack and putting on immense pressure. New Zealand were dominant well into the second half, but Pita Vi came in off the bench and jetted away to USA’s first try. A yellow card to New Zealand gave the Eagles a power play for the final two minutes, and Porter Goodrum immediately scored on his series debut. But New Zealand remained dominant, taking the win 12-28.
The USA met Fiji in their second pool matchup, a crucial piece to booking a ticket to quarterfinals. The kickoff went deep into USA territory, and the Eagles stayed urgent to take possession. Patient offloads and physicality by David Still gave the ball to Lucas Lacamp for the first try of the game. But Fiji took back control, scattering USA players with a lot of physicality. David Still took the last try of the first half fending off tacklers on the edge. Fiji was dominant at the start of the second half, but the Eagles were resilient, with Faitala Talapusi scoring the try off solid depth with the ball. Jack Wendling scored one more for the Eagles, but Fiji was the better side in this game, taking the win 20-42.
Looking for one win out of pool play, the Eagles had high determination heading into their final day one match against Spain. But Spain, motivated following an upset against New Zealand, took the first points, and the Eagles needed to find their confidence. But the Lions brought raw physicality and speed that the USA couldn’t match, looking disconnected. The shutout game went to Spain, 0-26.
The Eagles went on to play Uruguay in the ninth place semifinal. Uruguay opened the scoring with a support try on the edge. But the USA responded fast off a scrum, dragging in defenders for Pita Vi to score under the posts. Uruguay would be a tough competitor as both teams scrambled to control the ball. Peter Sio Jr. had the breakaway but was stopped up by Uruguay at the try line. The USA held on to possession and the play finished with Lucas Lacamp scoring on the edge. The squad worked to build momentum, but handling errors would stop them in their tracks, giving away a 12-15 win to Uruguay.
The Eagles had one more chance to turn around their Dubai SVNS story against Ireland in the 11th place playoff. Much of the first half remained scoreless as the teams struggled to hold on to the ball. But Darrell Williams found the try line on the side for the first USA try. Ireland struck back before the half to tie up the score. Ireland were physical and just as determined to get a win out of this game, but the USA’s tide turned when David Still III broke away to score, bringing up another tie. The game came down to the last seconds, where Ireland evaded USA tacklers to score the final try to take the win 12-19.
The USA have a week to find their improvements as they head to the next SVNS stop in Cape Town. 2024 CPT SVNS kicks off Dec. 7, live on RugbyPass TV.
| Name | SVNS Tournaments |
|---|---|
| 1. Aaron Cummings (C) | 23 |
| 6. David Still III | 19 |
| 7. Peter Sio Jr. | 1 |
| 8. Lance Williams | 7 |
| 10. Faitala Talapusi (C) | 20 |
| 12. Lucas Lacamp | 21 |
| 13. Jack Wendling | 6 |
| 14. Darius Law | 1 |
| 15. Michael Hand | 1 |
| 22. Porter Goodrum | 1 |
| 25. Pita Vi | 10 |
| 27. Marcus Tupuola | 33 |
| 33. Darrell Williams | 1 |
Simon Amor | Head Coach
Ben Pinkelman | Assistant Coach
Perry Baker | Assistant Coach
Josh Schnell | Strength & Conditioning
Colby Thompson | Athletic Trainer
Liz Strohecker | Head of Operations - Sevens
Pool C
v New Zealand | 12-28 (L)
TRIES | P. Vi, P. Goodrum
CONV | P. Vi
v Fiji | 20-42 (L)
TRIES | L. Lacamp, D. Still III, F. Talapusi, J. Wendling
v Spain | 0-26 (L)
Knockouts
9th Place Semifinal v Uruguay | 12-15 (L)
TRIES | P. Vi, L. Lacamp
CONV | P. Vi
11th Place Playoff v Ireland | 12-19 (L)
TRIES | D. Williams, D. Still IIICONV | P. Vi
