After securing the SVNS World Series Qualification in Uruguay, the USA Men’s Eagles Sevens went 3 for 5 in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the final stop of the HSBC SVNS 2 series sealing the 1st seed in the series.
A relentless push to accomplish their qualification, the USA men followed up with grit and resilience taking 4th place despite navigating 4 injuries, precautionarily compromising the strength of their match day roster.
Extremely proud of the full squads effort across this SVNS 2 campaign, head coach Zack Test commented;
“We came into SVNS 2, looking to build on our preseason. Our aim was to finish top 2 and qualify for. World Championships, so mission accomplished. I’m proud of the boys for accomplishing that as the number 1 seed. That was our goal.”
“This was a tough weekend. We came out on day one, down 4 players, so it was a gritty effort this whole weekend. Players had to grind through matches without the subs we usually rely on. But the pride in the Jersey, the heart and the respect we have for the Jersey and the Brotherhood to push through adversity was there.” “We pushed through a lot these last 2 weeks, with some hard times, and a lot of good moments - a couple debuts, debut tries, a graduation, Lucas earning his 30th tournament. I'm really proud of everyone - the staff, the players - and how we have each other's back. We accomplished what we set out to do. But, our job's not finished, and the next mission is in front of us, and we're ready,”
“Back in Chula Vista, we’ll build upon our consistency, our details, and how to hold that standard for 14 minutes. It's a whole team effort and everyone is united in the fight. We have our sights set on Hong Kong and performing at the level we know we can.”
Dropping the first game against Belgium, the USA won their subsequent 2 opening day matches. Belgium, who had a cracker of a tournament opened with 2 subsequent tries off the bat before Captain Steve Tomasin responded followed by one from recent debutant Tucker Trickey. Belgium responded before the half to lead 10-19. The Belgians again opened proceedings and dotted down another. A Ben Broselle rebuttal added points but not enough to overtake.
A dominant performance against Canada saw the USA take the win 26-12. Early tries from Broselle and Aaron Cummings set the tone before Lucas Lacamp made his mark capitulating his 30th tournament appearance in a USA Eagles Jersey. Broselle dotted down again at the restart giving the Eagles a comfortable lead despite the Canadians running in 2 tries before the final whistle.
The USA concluded day one with a win over Uruguay trading tries with Los Teros. Ben Broselle opened with Tomasin taking the second just before half time and giving the USA a 14-7 lead. Uruguay responded first on the restart, with Tomasin taking one before the buzzer to seal the USA win 19-14.
Day 2 opened against Kenya with Trickey fending off two Kenyan defenders to score the opening try for the Eagles. Kenya responded immediately and again just before the half time whistle despite valiant efforts from the USA to defend on the line. Still in touching distance at 7-12, the USA restarted running some brilliant attacking lines, but Kenya capitalized on a loose ball at short range and ran in their third. Steve Tomasin responded with a long run and just as he was crossing the finish line, Kenya came in with a high tackle awarding the Eagles a penalty try and yellow card advantage. Unable to capitalize with the overlap, Kenya returned with their full side dotting down twice more to seal the win 31-14.
USA kicked off against Germany for their final match of the weekend, Germany scored first off the bounce off a well executed grubber. Lucas Lacamp found an outside brake off a USA set piece, quickly following it up with the same again running into half time 14-5. A line break passed out wide to Aaron Faison, ran in the Eagles third, before also repeating with his second securing a dominant win over Germany 28-5.
With the SVNS World Series Qualification locked in, the team travel home to Chula Vista, CA to dial in preparations for the infamous Hong Kong stop kicking off April 17-19.
USA fans can follow all USA Rugby action live on Paramount+.
| Player Number | Name |
|---|---|
| 1 | Aaron (AC) Cummings |
| 2 | Ben Broselle |
| 3 | Orrin Bizer |
| 5 | Will Chevalier |
| 6 | David Still III |
| 8 | Ryan Santos |
| 9 | Stephen Tomasin (C) |
| 12 | Lucas Lacamp |
| 13 | Jack Wendling |
| 16 | Uluamu Niutupuivaha |
| 25 | Pita Vi |
| 27 | Marcus Tupuola |
| 28 | Tucker Trickey |
| 88 | Aaron Faison |
USA v Belgium (L) 15-24
Tries: S. Tomasin, B. Broselle, T. Trickey
USA v Canada (W) 26-12
Tries: B. Broselle, A. Cummings, L. Lacamp
Conv: L. Lacamp (3)
USA v Uruguay (W) 19-14
Tries: S. Tomasin (2), B. Broselle,
Conv: L. Lacamp, S. Tomasin
USA v Kenya (L) 14-31
Tries: T. Trickey, Penalty Try
Conv: L. Lacamp
USA v Germany (W) 28-5
Tries: L. Lacamp (2), A. Faison (2)
Conv: L. Lacamp (3), S. Tomasin
Nairobi, Kenya - 2nd Place
Montevideo, Uruguay - 1st Place - SVNS World Championship Qualification secured
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
