The USA finished third at the second iteration of Emirates Invitational 7s in Dubai, defeating Japan, Kenya and Brazil on day two to end the tournament 5-1. The team’s only loss was a 19-12 decision to Canada, which lost to France in the final.
RELATED: Eagles 2-1 on Day One
Despite the three wins on day two, USA Women’s 7s head coach Chris Brown imparted notes of frustration with the team’s showing.
“Everyone is heavily disappointed in how we performed on this last day after finding a way to win early on yesterday and falling just short against the Canadians,” Brown told USA Rugby. “We saw some BRAVE character against Canada and France on Day One off the back-end of good play last weekend. There was progress on both sides of the ball.
“Each and every player, as well as myself, have some serious work to do over the next two months if we want to achieve our mission this season. It’s time to get home, reflect, rest up and make some good choices when we get back together.”
The USA shut out Japan 31-0 to start day two, and got on the board early when Cheta Emba required two tacklers near the sideline. The prop found Nicole Heavirland all alone for the offload, and the scrumhalf was away for the try and conversion, 7-0. But the rest of the half wasn’t exactly clean. The Eagles struggled to get in a rhythm as some passing issues choked up a free-flowing attack. But good defense, particularly from Emba, drove Japan into its own try zone, and the subsequent scrum moved to Steph Rovetti for a second try. Heavirland added a nice conversion from about five meters off the touchline for the 14-0 lead into the break.
The Eagles added three more tries in the second half. The first came after some basketball passes and a little regrouping in the middle pitch. Rovetti then went to ground and Kristi Kirshe took the ball right up the middle, shaking out of a tackle for the try and Heavirland conversion, 21-0.
Japan had the makings of a solid attacking series, using two penalties to get into USA territory, and running some nice switch lines to pause the defense. But Japan missed the perfect opportunity to strike and Kasey McCravey intercepted an ill-advised pass out wide. The counter moved to Lauren Doyle, who swerved into the try zone for the centered score, 26-0. The USA regained the restart through Emba, who tapped the ball to Jordan Matyas from mid-air. Several contact phases followed – support was a little slow to make offloads a good option – until Alena Olsen’s dummy-offload on the sideline put her into open space for the try, 31-0.
USA 31
Tries: Heavirland, Rovetti, Kirshe, Doyle, Olsen
Cons: Heavirland 3
The USA built a 15-0 first-half lead against Kenya, a fortunate outcome given the start of the match. Kenya benefitted from a not-10 kickoff and a series of USA penalties to get in good attacking position. The USA got a turnover near midfield and started to build some flow, but decided to take on Kenya through the middle and with close offloads into contact. Kenya poached the ball and took advantage of an overload out wide, but a just-forward pass halted an exciting breakaway into open space. The Eagles did a good job with the five-meter scrum, moving it Kristen Thomas on the wing for the corner try, 5-0.
Kenya erred on the next two restarts, and those mistakes set up American tries. Emba gathered the first botched receipt and after a few attacking phases in the middle of the pitch, the ball moved to Thomas out wide for a second try. Abby Gustaistis pressured a knock-on with a hard charge on the Kenyan receiver, and Thomas was there for the immediate recovery and run inside the 22. The ball worked wide to Kirshe, who again kicked out of the tackle and found Doyle back inside for the try, 15-0. In that series, everything worked like it was supposed to.
The USA kept the second-half kickoff but a penalty at Kenya’s 22 and later a knock-on saw Kenya regroup with a scrum near the USA 40. Nothing fancy, Kenya worked the ball to the wing, who had the angle and the speed to beat Thomas in pursuit, 15-5.
The Eagles added a final try after an unstable scrum saw Kenya knock on the pickup. Kirshe and Matyas made good ground on the edges, and then McCravey pierced the middle to get close. The final push saw Gustaitis charge to the line and send a back-handed pass to Kirshe barreling through for the try. McCravey converted for the 22-5 lead.
On the restart, Gustaitis went up for the perfect tapback to Doyle, but then two errant passes put Kenya in the position to kick the ball off the ground and initiate the chase. The ball bounced perfectly into Kenya’s hands, and the ballcarrier had the gas to outrun Doyle for the score, 22-10 the final.
USA 22
Tries: Thomas 2, Doyle, Kirshe
Cons: Heavirland
France beat Canada, so they and the USA finished 4-1 at the end of the round robin. But the standings sent the Eagles to the third-place match against Brazil. France went on to beat Canada in the final.
The Americans led Brazil four tries to one in the second half, with scores coming from Thomas (2), Gustaitis and Sui A’au. Heavirland and McCravey (2) combined for six conversion points. But Brazil kept pushing and put away two late tries for a more competitive finish, 26-19.
USA 26
Tries: Thomas 2, Gustaitis, A’au
Cons: McCravey 2, Heavirland
Originally, the USA’s next fixture was supposed to be in May, but the Paris 7s was cancelled since France is struggling with a third Covid-19 surge.