USA Men's Eagles weather injures in Hong Kong

The USA Men's Eagles Sevens finished 12th place at HSBC Hong Kong Sevens, paired against top teams and experiencing multiple injuries through the three-day tournament.

Faitala Talapusi, Adam Channel, David Still and Captain Stephen Tomasin sustained injuries over the weekend, where player availability and the roster for next week’s Singapore tournament will be reviewed. The 12th place finish also confirms the Men’s Sevens will compete in the promotion and relegation bracket against Challenger series teams from LA, looking to secure a final win and hold their place on the HSBC SVNS.

Housed in the new Kai Tak Stadium, the USA hit the ground running against familiar opposition from the last stop in Vancouver. Even culminating in a repeat final match against 10th ranked Uruguay. The Eagles scraped against the clock in a stalemate for three minutes of extra time, before Uruguay grounded for the overtime win. Despite unfavorable results, improvements were made. Margins in pool play narrowed against Fiji, however, top-ranked team, Argentina put the Eagles through their paces before the Irish flipped the script from last month, to this time take the W from the USA Men. A scrappy 9th place Semi final against Kenya cinched the USA’s spot in their final match of the tournament, which didn’t land in the Eagles favor. While results and injuries aren’t great takeaways, the resilience built from these harsh competitions and then parlayed into Singapore are the ultimate character builders.

Head Coach Simon Amor commented on Hong Kong; “We are of course disappointed with the results, but we were under adversity since the first game, with a number of injuries we picked up and that impacted our execution in a number of areas. I was very proud of the guys' determination, effort, and their willingness to die for each other. They never gave up even under adversity and I think that shows the heart of this side, its a great place for us to build going forward.”

Looking ahead at the quick turnaround to Singapore, Amor added, “We’ll bring on a number of new players so that changes the dynamics of the team a fair bit. It will give opportunities for some of our younger players - Ulu, Jake and some of the more inexperienced guys to pick up more game time which will really help their development.”

The USA opened pool play against the Fijians, who injected pace from the start. A brilliant collection from David Still shifted off to Lacamp put the USA over the line, building momentum. Fiji replied on repeat occasions, but not without the Eagles staying in the fight including some strong shifts from USA debutant Uluamu Niutupuivaha. A strong Fijian defense thrashed the Eagles efforts until Wendling finally managed to get it over, narrowing the scoreline significantly from the last meeting in Vancouver. Match two against top seeded Argentina showed why the Pumas are the best in the series. The USA displayed grit with the Eagles hunting opportunities where they could. A big hit from David Still fending off Argentina put the USA on the board after shifting the ball wide to Lacamp who dotted it down over the line.

Day two, the Eagles reloaded, with a match against Ireland who refined their attack, challenging the USA defense to hold the line. Ireland exploited space on the outside and put the first points on the board. The Irish stayed on the attack and stretched their lead putting the Eagles under pressure defensively. David Still, not one to sit back, put on a hand-off master class to fly through the Irish line and cement some some points on the board for the USA before again laying down dominance to gain possession and sending the ball wide to Chevalier who dives over the line to put a second try on the board.

Advancing to the 9th place semifinal against Kenya sealed the USA Men’s Sevens future relegating them out of the top 8 table rankings. Kenya opened with pace and found the try line straight off the mark. A great body block by Wendling disrupted the Kenyan’s grounding on their next trip to the tryline but Kenya continued to take the match in stride. Using his reach, Ben Broselle completed an impressive dive to find the line just before the half. Kenya, however, extended the lead capitalising on a penalty retreat. Great footwork and agility allowed Ben Broselle to dot down again but not enough to overtake the Kenyans putting the USA in the 11th place play-off.

A familiar final foe, USA faced off against Uruguay and yet again, swapped scorelines which this time, was in Uruguay's favor. Uruguay capitalized on space in the American defensive line early, but Lucas Lacamp responded with agility, spinning across the line. Uruguay came back with a fake to dupe the Eagles and get across. The USA do an impressive job of keeping possession despite some pressurized passes until Marcus Tupuola finally gets enough steam to power through and touch down, equalising the score going into the half. The USA ran some great attacking lines but small errors forced turnovers. A chip kick from Pita Vi on a runaway ball back into hands injects some enthusiasm but it is stopped by an overrun pass going into touch. Play goes over the buzzer by three minutes with both teams close to clinching the final score, but Uruguay are able to ground first and take the W.

The USA Men’s Sevens will now travel to Singapore for the sixth stop of the Tour April 5-6, 2025 before they return stateside for the series finale in Los Angeles May 3-4, 2025. Tickets on sale now.

Simon Amor | Head Coach

Josh Schnell | Strength & Conditioning

Delaney Cassidy | Athletic Trainer

Liz Strohecker | Head of Operations - Sevens

Tries: L. Lacamp (2), J. Wendling

Conv: L. Lacamp, S. Tomasin (2)

Tries: D. Still

Tries: D. Still, W. Chevalier

Tries: B. Broselle (2)

Tries: L. Lacamp, M. Tupuola

Conv: L. Lacamp, W. Chevalier