The USA Men’s Eagles Sevens defeated the Fijians in their 5th place play off winning promotion to the HSBC SVNS Series 1.
The Eagles went 3 for 3 in pool play defeating previous week, Valladolid Champions, Australia alongside Spain and Uruguay. A defeat from Spain in the Quarter Final, set them up for a play off against world class side, Fiji, where Lucas Lacamp secured a gutsy finish in the final play to secure the win and promotion of the USA Men’s Eagles Sevens to the top tier Championship.
Beyond proud of the squad’s resilience and progress from start to finish of the season, Head Coach, Zack Test commented;
“It's been the season of highs and lows. it's been long, it's been gruelling all the way from Coral Coast to Nairobi and SVNS 2, all the way to Hong Kong. A rough road shapes the character of a team, and the character of this team definitely showed this past weekend what we're building - and building something special.
“I'm so proud of the boys and efforts we put in. We've been preaching all week about our belief in each other, and what we're building. We knew this weekend, we’d have to be resilient, and fight for 14 minutes to the bitter end. The three big games of Spain, Australia, and Fiji definitely showed who we are and what we're becoming, and I just couldn't be more proud of the boys, of the staff, of the whole programme, for truly buying in and becoming the things we talk around.”
Captain Stephen Tomasin recapped his emotions after a whirl wind weekend;
“Exhausted, stressed, relieved, proud. Those are a few of the words I would use to describe how we’re feeling. We talked this morning about belief, and how important that is. Before you can do anything great, you have to believe you will do it, and we were preaching out all morning and even at halftime we talked about it - trying to stay calm going into that second half."
"At the beginning (of the Fiji match), things weren’t going our way, and I think the team we were in Hong Kong, would have folded, but we've done a lot of work since Hong Kong on ourselves, on our group, and who we are, building the resiliency to get that done and I'm just so proud of them.”
The USA opened Pool play against Spain with both sides holding strong until well into the first half when Lucas Lacamp charged across the line. Spain countered with 2 converted tries establishing a half time lead of 5-14. However, the Eagles showed grit on the restart with Orrin Bizer running over, soon followed by another from Lacamp and David Still dotting down for the USA’s fourth. Spain added one more to the board, but not enough to come back from the Eagles strong second half display taking the win 24-19.
Match two of pool play saw the USA take on Valladolid Champions, Australia who scored first shifting the ball wide. USA received and held possession through the phases with Rand Santos directing traffic, to eventually get the ball to Stephen Tomasin who straightened lines and ran it in. The USA extended their lead going into the half 14-5 with Lacamp running it in off the outside from the scrum. Australia ran one in off a line out before taking another from a penalty just off the line putting the Australians up by 3. With an Australian yellow in the final minute, the USA stayed composed to take the ball up the pitch through the phases wearing down the Australian overlap with Jack Wendling presenting on the line and Lacamp picking to tank over to ground defeating the Australians 19-17 and taking their second win of the day in pool play.
The USA Men conceded only one try with no tries in the first half in their final pool match against Uruguay taking the win 43-7. Ben Broselle opened with 2 consecutive tries, before Ryan Santos and Lucamp crossed the line to take a commanding 22-0 lead at half time. Uruguay opened the second half with a try of their own, but not enough to come back after Marcus Tupuola, Jack Wendling, and Will Chevalier crossed as well.
In the Cup Quarter Final, the USA drew Spain taking them on again having defeated them in pool play. Staying composed through the first phases, the USA shifted wide to Tomasin running on and taking the first try of the match. A knock on from Spain gave the USA a scrum but the Eagles lost possession at half time buzzer, but still held the lead 5-0 at the half. On the restart, Spain won possession off the kickoff and flew down the wing to level 5-5. Spain won a USA penalty and found the line going up 12-5 before the Spanish picked off a close scrum and scored on the blindside to take their third. The Spanish ran down the clock kicking out at the buzzer to win 5-17 and progress to the semi final.
Taking their shot in the 5th place play off against Fiji, the USA opened with strong attack but Fiji turned over and sped down the pitch to take the first try of the match. Despite a try saving tackle from Ryan Santos, the Fijians regrouped and shifted wide off a scrum to dot down their second try to close out the first half 0-14. Lacamp’s workrate in the second half yielded success forcing a turnover shifting wide to Still who dove over for the first USA try. Will Chevalier scored under the posts off a line out bringing the Eagles within 2 points and with just 45 seconds left on the clock, Fiji won their lineout and looked to be in control until Chevalier intercepted a blind Fijian pass to turn over in the 22. The USA shifted wide and stayed composed through the phases. A strong Tupuola line to tank up to the 5 meter gave Rand Santos the platform to pick and find Lacamp on the short side to dive across in the corner and secure an epic 17-14 win for the Eagles and promotion to SVNS 1.
Following a break to relish and recover from the season, the USA Men’s Eagles Sevens will reconvene in California for preseason and begin preparations to continue their progress on the world stage at next season’s HSBC SVNS Series opener. All matches will be streamed live on Paramount+. Fans can also follow along the journey on the USA Eagles new dedicated instagram account @USAEagles7s
| Player Number | Player | Caps |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron (AC) Cummings | 34 |
| 2 | Ben Broselle | 29 |
| 3 | Orrin Bizer | 13 |
| 4 | Adam Channel | 22 |
| 5 | Will Chevalier | 14 |
| 6 | David Still III | 26 |
| 8 | Ryan Santos | 9 |
| 9 | Stephen Tomasin © | 70 |
| 12 | Lucas Lacamp | 33 |
| 13 | Jack Wendling | 18 |
| 27 | Marcus Tupuola | 44 |
| 28 | Tucker Trickey | 5 |
| 88 | Aaron Faison | 1 |
| 99 | Rand Santos | 2 |
USA v Spain (w) 24-19
Tries: Orrin Bizer, Lucas Lacamp (2), David Still III
Conv: Rand Santos, Lucas Lacamp
USA v Australia (W) 19-17
Tries: Lucas Lacamp (2), Stephen Tomasin
Conv: Stephen Tomasin (2)
USA v Uruguay (W) 43-7
Tries: Ben Broselle (2), Ryan Santos, Lucas Lacamp, Marcus Tupuola, Jack Wendling, Will Chevalier
Conv: Rand Santos (2), Lucas Lacamp, Will Chevalier
Cup Quarter Final | USA v Spain (L) 5-17
Tries: Stephen Tomasin
5th Place Play off: USA v Fiji (W) 17-14
Tries: Lucas Lacamp, Will Chevalier, David Still III
Conv: Stephen Tomasin
April 17 - 19 | Hong Kong - 12th Place
May 29 -31 | Valladolid - 9th Place
June 5 - 7 | Bordeaux - 5th Place
Nairobi, Kenya - 2nd Place
Montevideo, Uruguay - 1st Place
São Paulo, Brazil - 4th Place
Zack Test | Head Coach
Nese Malifa | Assistant Coach
Josh Schnell | Head of Athletic Performance
Perry Baker | Technical Coach
Pat Blair | Technical / Analysis Coach
Julian Arteaga | Performance Analyst
Nicole Titmas | Head of Athlete Wellness
Meghan Chambers | Rehab Specialist
Meaghan Wu | Athletic Trainer
Jacque Scaramella | Dietician
Liz Strohecker | Head of Operations
Maria Adams | Operations Coordinator
Juan Juarez | Videographer
