The U.S. has advanced to the Cup semi-finals once again and at the same time inched closer to fifth place on the Series by beating Australia 14-7 at the Glasgow 7s. The U.S. took full opportunity of their chances in the match and were well deserved winners. They will next play Fiji in the Cup semi-finals.
The match looked to be all Australia early. The Aussies creatively grubbered the restart and with the possession they simply worked the ball back and forth until they found Pama Fou in space for the try. Australia kept on the pressure afterward but the U.S. defense held firm. Also, the moist conditions didn't do either side any favors as both committed a few errors.
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A very worrying moment for the Eagles came with just a little more than a couple of minutes left in the half when Zack Test went down with an injury. It's unclear what his status will be for not only this tournament, but London and Olympic qualifying.
For the most part the Eagles were pinned back in their own end for most of the half. However, when you have the speed of Perry Baker that can change quickly. That's exactly how the U.S. got on the board as Baker went the length of the pitch to even things up at 7-7 at halftime after Hughes made the difficult conversion.
It took a few minutes but the U.S. finally got their breakthrough in the second half when Maka Unufe was able to shake off an Australian tackle and go 70 meters for the try. It was only made possible by solid defensive work from Matai Leuta and Andrew Durutalo before that. Australia had their chances to score, including a put in on a five meter scrum after a mistake from Baker with less than a minute to play, but they couldn't put it in allowing the U.S. to hold on for the win.
Ironically, the U.S. possibly could have made things more difficult for themselves and Canada down the line. With the U.S. beating Australia and Canada losing to England it means that England now have an even bigger gap between them and Australia for the final qualifying spot. Essentially that means that either Samoa or Australia will be in the repechage against either Canada or the Eagles next year. Further, that should put more emphasis behind qualifying for the Olympics at the NACRA 7s next month.
Starters: Barrett, Test, Durutalo, Niua, Unufe, Hughes, Baker