WELLINGTON, New Zealand - The Men's Eagles Sevens' first HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series tournament of 2016 - a year in which Olympic medals will be awarded to teams competing in Rugby Sevens for the first time - kicks off Saturday, Jan. 30, in New Zealand.
The date on the fixture list for HSBC Wellington Sevens' day one is Saturday, with the U.S. opening its Pool C account against Samoa. The match will kick off at 5:52 p.m. ET Friday, Jan. 29, due to the sizable time difference. That is good news for stateside rugby fans, as the tournament will run between the hours of 5 p.m. and 3 a.m. ET Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday rather than the late-night schedule endured during the opening legs of the Series in Dubai and Cape Town.
What you missed
Heads were turned prior to the 2014-15 Series when Mike Friday was hired as head coach of the Eagles, and it did not take long for fans and rivals to stop doing a double-take when the team reached a Cup Quarterfinal. The U.S. went on to win three of their nine pools before claiming a Cup at Marriott London Sevens at the end of the season.
One item on the bucket list - beating New Zealand, the most successful nation on the circuit with 12 Series titles in 16 seasons - was not achieved in Friday's first season at the helm. That all changed at Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens this past December, when a last-minute Perry Baker try and touch-line conversion from captain Madison Hughes sealed the first defeat of the All Blacks Sevens, as well as the Eagles' pool.
A third-place finish - with a second defeat of New Zealand in the Bronze Final - was followed up with a Plate Final appearance at HSBC Cape Town Sevens. A "disappointing' result for the U.S., Fiji won the Plate to keep a grip on first in the Series standings, level with South Africa. The Eagles, for their sixth-place finish, retained third on 29 points with Argentina.
Where the Eagles fly
Danny Barrett missed out on the first two legs of the Series coming off of surgery post-Rugby World Cup 2015, while the Eagles also dealt with the absence of Andrew Durutalo, whose 15s performances throughout the second half of 2015 earned him a Super Rugby contract with Japan's Sunwolves.
Several Eagles filled Barrett and Durutalo's shoes without much in the way of a drop in quality, including Garrett Bender, Will Holder, Matai Leuta, Kevin Swiryn, and Brett Thompson. Holder accounted for four of the U.S.'s 11 tries scored against the All Blacks Sevens in three matches, Leuta proved a handful on restarts and in the tackle area on both sides of the ball, and Swiryn made his first appearance on the Series since 2010 look like he had never left.
Bender was not selected as a member of the 13-man travel squad for the third and fourth stops, but Barrett is back in the team. Also not returning is Maka Unufe - replaced by Thompson - though the Eagles could unleash Series debutant Ben Pinkelman on the tournament field, who have restocked with the likes of Juan de Jongh (South Africa), 2015 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year nominee Semi Kunatani (Fiji), and World Cup 2015 Champion Sonny Bill Williams (New Zealand).
Pinkelman, 21, will be a familiar name to those in D1A Rugby's West Conference as well as Olympic-hopeful domestic sevens players, who have seen the six-foot-four Colorado State student-athlete trouble defenses and offenses alike at Serevi RugbyTown Sevens, the inaugural Halloween Rugby 7s tournament, and USA Rugby Club 7s National Championships in recent years.
1 TO WATCH: Keep an eye out for @speedstick11 this weekend @sevenswelly - he's been in fine form for @usarugby
https://t.co/tj3dsQVd7K
— World Rugby Sevens (@WorldRugby7s) January 28, 2016
Flight plan
Friday whittled the travel squad down to 12 for Wellington, with Pinkelman making the cut along with Thretton Palamo, who provided cover for the squad and played in Cape Town. Apart from the absences of Bender, Durutalo, and an injured Martin Iosefo, the Eagles' squad matches last year's Cup-winning team from London.
Samoa has not impressed in New Zealand, the closest stop to Apia (along with the updated location for Australia's leg), since consecutive Bronze Final appearances in 2011-12 and 2012-13. The Eagles only met Samoa on the Series twice last season - in the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens Bowl Semifinal and the Tokyo Sevens Cup Quarterfinal - and split decisions. Much like Fiji, Samoa plays an expansive game and is able to adjust on the fly with smart, athletic rugby players. In the past two seasons, both teams are .500 in the matchup, and the Eagles will look to improve their record in the opening match in New Zealand.
The Eagles have already met England this season, a Cup Semifinal defeat in Dubai despite holding a 12-0 lead just before halftime - which the opponent overturned to draw level at the break - and a 19-12 advantage heading into the closing minutes.
"I felt we'd done enough [to win] but that's sometimes how rugby goes and we paid the price for our little lapses of concentration at the end of the first half,' Friday recalled of the encounter. "We've got to cut out the little concentration errors an technical faults that we saw.'
England is without Phil Burgess but will have two faces new to the Series in Ethan Waddleton and Jack Wilson, while Simon Amor will renew his rivalry with Friday on the touch line in the Eagles' second match of Pool C.
France has also been able to beat the Eagles on the young season, a pool defeat in Dubai. The U.S.'s first win against New Zealand, however, propelled the team to the Cup Quarterfinals at the expense France, who will be without HSBC Cape Town Sevens Dream Team selection Virimi Vakatawa. Terry Bouhraoua was the Series' leading try-scorer after Dubai with eight five-pointers, and 74 total points, and will trouble defenses all weekend long.
Screaming Eagles
Not only are the match times favorable to viewers in the United States, but both days of Wellington Sevens will be available to stream live directly on World Rugby's Sevens Series website. The Eagles kick off against Samoa at 5:52 p.m. ET, wearing a brand new kit that can be purchased via World Rugby Shop.
Live match updates will be "tweeted' from USA Rugby's Twitter account during each match, and recaps will be posted to USA Rugby's Official Facebook page and USARugby.org. The social media conversation can be joined using the SevensWelly "hashtag.'
Men's Eagles Sevens | HSBC Wellington Sevens
1. Carlin Isles
2. Matai Leuta
5. Zack Test
6. Kevin Swiryn
7. Folau Niua
10. Madison Hughes
11. Perry Baker
12. Will Holder
Men's Eagles Sevens | HSBC Wellington Sevens
v. Samoa - Friday, Jan. 29 - 5:52 p.m. ET
v. England - Friday, Jan. 29 - 8:54 p.m. ET
v. France - Friday, Jan. 29 - 11:54 p.m. ET
