U.S. Stuns England in First Day of Adelaide Sevens

ADELAIDE, Australia - The USA Men's Sevens team upset England 24-21 in the opening round of pool play at the IRB Sevens World Series event in Adelaide - the Eagle's first victory over England since April 2008.

Despite allowing an early England try, the U.S. Eagles retaliated in the first half, scoring three tries by three different players and securing a solid 17-7 lead over their competition by the half.

“I think that they had a true belief in themselves that they could beat England.  Our game plan was to not let England have the ball because we know how dangerous they are. They have a tremendous amount of pace," USA Men's Sevens Coach Al Caravelli said following the win. "I think the turning point was when the horn went off in the first half and we were inside our 22. We decided to keep playing for an extra two minutes and were able to score.

"Instead of just kicking it out and walking away with a lead at halftime, (the U.S. Team) went for it. I think that was the difference - that they realized they could do it, they could go an entire pitch controlling the ball and scoring."  

England scored another early try in the second, but the U.S. had already took control of the game and captain Kevin Swiryn was able to touch down his second try on the day to keep the Eagles out of reach from the English side.

Nese Malifa converted both of Swiryn’s tries to add the necessary four points to the total, and even when England came back to score their third and final try in the last minutes, the Eagles remained firm and finished with a big victory over the tough England Sevens Team.

The U.S. will play hosts, Australia, on Saturday at 4:49 p.m. (ACDT), before taking on its last opponent, Niue, at 6:32 p.m. (ACDT)

For more information on the U.S. Sevens Team, please visit www.usarugby.org/goto/mens_sevens. Fans can also follow the Men’s National Sevens Team players’ as they blog on Rookie Rugby Club.

For more information on the IRB Sevens World Series, please visit www.irbsevens.com.

IRB Sevens World Series - Australia
Pool Play - Day 1

USA 24, England 21 (Halftime USA 17, England 7)
U.S. Tries: Swiryn (2), Hawkins, Edwards.
U.S. Conversions: Malifa (2).

1. Matt Hawkins; 2. Marco Barnard; 3. Mark Bokhoven (in at 11:11); 4. Shalom Suniula (in at 10:37); 5. Zach Test; 6. Tommy Saunders (DNP); 7. Nese Malifa; 8. Leonard Peters (in at 13:04); 9. Kevin Swiryn; 10. Zachary Pangelinan; 11. Nick Edwards; 12. Paul Emerick.

Tags: USA Rugby