MANCHESTER, ENG - The USA Men’s Sevens kicked off the first of two development tournaments in England in a rainy and wet Manchester for AF International Sevens. Following three of four matches in pool play, the group went 1-2, notching a first win over Nigeria and falling narrowly to Ireland and France.
With one more pool match to go tomorrow at 6:40 AM ET against Jamaica, the group will continue to focus on its purpose in the tournament: fine tuning core skills in challenging conditions to better prepare for the Olympic season ahead.
Head Coach Mike Friday said: “It’s been a great day for us in terms of what we want to gain out of this weekend. There are things we are working on and some changes of behaviors that are more important than wins and losses in these training games. That will continue to be our focus as we move into tomorrow.”
Knockout rounds for the AF International Sevens begin at 8:40 AM ET with the 9th Place Final. A LIVE stream of all matches and final scores are available at florugby.com.
MATCH ONE | UNITED STATES 36-5 NIGERIA
The opening match of AF International Sevens was filled with USA Sevens flair. An early break inside the Nigerian 22 allowed Cody Melphy to claim the first points; after which Nigeria pushed Harley Wheeler to touch and turned the ball back around to score their own. As wet and rainy conditions grew more prevalent, scattered penalties tampered with the dominance of the U.S. side but only briefly. The Eagles Sevens bounced back from any errors to take complete control of the match and run away with five final tries.
TRIES
Cody Melphy (2), Ben Broselle (2), Pat Blair, Maceo Brown
CONVERSIONS
Naima Fualaau
MATCH TWO | UNITED STATES 17-19 IRELAND
Nearly an hour after their win over Nigeria, the Eagles Sevens were back against Ireland who will be the newest core team in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series.
The Irish and Americans went back and forth for some time as Ireland were much more poised to take advantage of U.S. errors than Nigeria were. After an opening try by Joe Schroeder, Ireland scored two in the corner; first on a line break and next following an interception of a U.S. pass near the goal line. Ireland’s defense struggled to reset as well, allowing Maceo Brown and Stephen Tomasin to burst through gaps and take a narrow lead.
With the score at 17-19 in the final minute, a string of back and forth loose ball turnovers ended with an Irish scrum and kick to touch for the win.
TRIES
Joe Schroeder, Maceo Brown, Pat Blair
CONS
Stephen Tomasin
MATCH THREE | UNITED STATES 5-7 FRANCE
The USA showcased many convincing moments on defense to apply pressure on France and create opportunities. In the end it was executing those opportunities which became a challenge and gave France the narrow edge to steal a win.
An opening try by the USA showed a beautiful passage of play from Naima Fualaau to Cody Melphy and right in the hands of Pat Blair for the dot down. France’s lone try came from a hard-fought attack in the second half where a penalty against the U.S. for not rolling away allowed France inside five meters. From there, the Eagles Sevens attempted to hold the try up mid posts but their opposition managed to roll over for the score.
In the final minutes, following a French scrum, a high tackle by the USA allowed France to quick tap and kick to touch for the victory.
TRIES
Pat Blair
USA Men’s Sevens Extended Squad
1 - Carlin Isles
2 - Matai Leuta
3 - Danny Barrett
4 - Pat Blair
5 - Maceo Brown
6 - Maka Unufe
7 - Cody Melphy
8 - Harley Wheeler
9 - Stephen Tomasin
10 - Naima Fualauu
11 - Perry Baker
12 - Joe Schroeder
13 - Kevon Williams
15 - Will Holder
17 - Marcus Tupuola
18- Ben Broselle
STAFF
Head Coach | Mike Friday
Assistant Coach | Phil Greening
Strength & Conditioning Coach | Jon Hood
Athletic Trainer | Brian Green
Team Manager | Scott Novack
AF International Sevens Schedule
Broadcast LIVE on florugby.com
vs Nigeria | 36-5 (W)
vs Ireland | 17-19 (L)
vs France | 5-7 (L)
vs Jamaica | Sat, Oct 26 - 6:20 AM ET
*Knockout stages begin at 8:40 AM ET
