Dubai: The USA’s giant-killing run in the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens ended in heartache with a 24-19 semi-final defeat to England on Saturday.
Both sides were tied 19-19 with zero minutes on the clock when Phil Burgess broke through for a match-winning try in extra time.
The Eagles had earlier finished second in Pool C at the expense of France on points difference after a shock 14-12 win over record 12-time HSBC World Rugby Sevens World Series champions New Zealand on Friday night.
Coach Mike Friday’s side then followed that up on Saturday morning by knocking out Dubai defending champions South Africa 21-19 in the quarter-final. But their surprise run petered out against England in a bitterly tight contest that could have gone either way, especially as the USA had a late call for a penalty denied. England instead progressed to the final where they faced Fiji who beat New Zealand 19-5 in the other semi finals.
Eyebrows may have been raised by the USA’s progression, but since they ended last season with their first ever cup win in London, the Americans have become a force to be reckoned with. And with greater consistency, coach Friday believes his side could soon break into the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series top four.
“We’re a little disappointed, but what we have shown here is the attitude, grit and resilience required to be successful in this series,” said the former England and Kenya coach.
“I said at the start of the season that I wanted to be competitive and I wanted everyone to fear us and respect us and that’s what we are trying to build towards and I hope now we are starting to see it.
“Wins against New Zealand and South Africa — they are fantastic rugby nations with great legacies in the game.
“But we are not satisfied with just the semi-final — that is not what we are about and that’s not where we want to be. That’s not being arrogant it’s just the sort of target we are setting ourselves as an aspiring tier two nation trying to break into the superpowers.
“We’ve set our stall out and we want to become a top four nation, whether we will achieve that or not, we will die trying.
“But now we need to build on consistency in our performances and if we do that along with improving our resilience and resolve and we can be technically and tactically accurate, then we will keep getting better and better. But there will be some tough lessons along the way and tonight was one of those.”
Saturday
Bowl/Shield quarter-finals
Japan 12—17 Kenya
France 38—5 Russia
Wales 24—14 Canada
Scotland 21—14 Portugal
Cup/Plate quarter-finals
Fiji 19—12 Australia
New Zealand 24—21 Samoa
England 14—7 Argentina
South Africa 19—21 USA
Shield semi-finals
Japan 21-19 Russia
Canada 31-14 Portugal
Bowl semi-finals
Kenya 7-33 France
Wales 14-17 Scotland
Plate semi-finals
Australia 28—10 Samoa
Argentina 5—26 South Africa
Cup semi-finals
Fiji 19—5 New Zealand
England 24—19 USA
Shield final
Japan 17-19 Canada
Bowl final
France 24-14 Scotland
Plate final
Australia — South Africa
Third place playoff
New Zealand — USA
Cup final
Fiji — England
