Originally the U.S.A. 7s program had intended to put a squad in the 7s Premier League this weekend. The death of Nelson Mandela has caused tournament organizers to postpone the event into the new year but a Falcons team was not going to participate anyways and has been originally planned. When the team list and squads came out for the tournament a few weeks back no U.S. players or a U.S. team was listed. The competition will feature mostly South African teams. Several Currie Cup sides are playing as well as composite teams.
It's easy to understand why the U.S. would not play in the tournament. Taking a developmental team all the way to South Africa would be expensive. Sure, if they won the tournament it would have been a big payday but there are no guarantees. Even if the team had kept several players from the full team down in South Africa it still would have been expensive. All in all, a good decision from those involved.
