2017–18 United States national rugby sevens team season

The 2017–18 United States national rugby sevens team season included both the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series and the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens. The season began badly. In the first tournament of the 2017–18 World Rugby Sevens Series in Dubai, 2017 World Rugby Player of the Year Perry Baker suffered a concussion, and the United States team limped to a last place finish. The U.S. improved from that point on, reaching the semifinals of the Australia Sevens. The team then won the 2018 USA Sevens, the first time the U.S. won their home tournament, boosted in large part by Perry Baker, who led all scorers with 8 tries.[1][2] Baker, along with forwards Ben Pinkelman and Danny Barrett all made the tournament Dream Team.[3][4] Overall the team displayed inconsistent performances, reaching the Cup semifinals three times, but also failing to qualify for the cup quarterfinals three times. Despite the inconsistent play, the U.S. finished sixth overall.

United States
2017–18 season

2017–18 World Sevens Series
2017–18 Season
Leg Date Finish Record
(W-L-D)		 Leading Try Scorer Leading Points Scorer Dream Team
selection
DubaiDecember 201715th0–5Carlin Isles (3)Carlin Isles (15)—
South AfricaDecember 20176th4–2Carlin Isles (6)Madison Hughes (37)—
AustraliaJanuary 20184th3–3Perry Baker (9)Perry Baker (45)Ben Pinkelman
New ZealandFebruary 20189th4–1–1Perry Baker (8)Perry Baker (40)—
United StatesMarch 20181st6–0Perry Baker (8)Perry Baker (40)Pinkelman, Barrett, Baker
CanadaMarch 20184th3–3Perry Baker (7)Perry Baker (37)Perry Baker
Hong KongApril 20186th3-2-1Carlin Isles (7)Carlin Isles (35)—
SingaporeApril 20189th4–2Carlin Isles (8)Carlin Isles (40)—
EnglandJune 20186th3-2-1Carlin Isles (8)Carlin Isles (40)—
FranceJune 20186th3-2-1Carlin Isles (6)Carlin Isles (30)—

Player statistics

The following table shows the leading players for the U.S. after the 2017–18 Sevens Series season. Among all World Series, players, Isles ranked first in tries scored with 49, and Baker ranked fifth with 37. Ben Pinkelman ranked fourth in tackles with 124 and fourth in matches played with 58.

Leading U.S. players (2017–18 WS season)
PlayerPositionMatchesTacklesTries
Ben PinkelmanForward5812411
Matai LeutaForward46828
Martin IosefoBack558022
Folau NiuaHalfback52809
Stephen TomasinForward386715
Madison HughesHalfback23615
Perry BakerBack305837
Danny BarrettForward495617
Kevon WilliamsHalfback475214
Carlin IslesBack534049
Maka UnufeBack33369
Malon AljibooriForward30192

Source: World Rugby website.

2018 USA Sevens
Main article: 2018 USA Sevens

The United States won the tournament by beating Argentina 28–0 in the final. This was the first time that the United States won its home tournament. USA's Perry Baker led the tournament with 8 tries and 11 breaks.[5] Baker, Pinkelman, and Barrett were all named to the seven-man tournament Dream Team.

2018 USA Sevens final:
U.S. starting lineup

With the U.S. finishing out the game with a lineup that included Isles (wing), Baker (center), Williams (fly-half) and Aljiboori (forward), it is believed that this is the first time the U.S. has fielded a team where the majority of players are African-American.[6]

2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens
Main article: 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens – Men's tournament
 
Semi-finals5th Place Final
 
      
 
22 July 2018 – 11:56 – AT&T Park
 
 
 Scotland 0
 
22 July 2018 – 17:02 – AT&T Park
 
 United States 28
 
 United States 7
 
22 July 2018 – 12:18 – AT&T Park
 
 Argentina 33
 
 Argentina 26
 
 
 France 15
 
7th Place
 
 
22 July 2018 – 16:40 – AT&T Park
 
 
 Scotland 29 (a.e.t)
 
 
 France 24

Round of 16

Quarterfinals

5th place semi-finals

5th place final

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Union / Club
1 BK Carlin Isles (1989-11-29)November 29, 1989 (aged 28) Unattached
2 FW Ben Pinkelman (1994-06-13)June 13, 1994 (aged 24) Denver Barbarians
3 FW Danny Barrett (1990-03-23)March 23, 1990 (aged 28) Unattached
4 FW Matai Leuta (1990-07-20)July 20, 1990 (aged 28) Unattached
5 FW Brett Thompson (1990-08-17)August 17, 1990 (aged 27) Unattached
6 BK Kevon Williams (1991-06-07)June 7, 1991 (aged 27) Denver Barbarians
7 BK Folau Niua (1985-01-27)January 27, 1985 (aged 33) Unattached
8 BK Maka Unufe (1991-09-28)September 28, 1991 (aged 26) Unattached
9 FW Stephen Tomasin (1994-09-25)September 25, 1994 (aged 23) Unattached
10 BK Madison Hughes (c) (1992-10-26)October 26, 1992 (aged 25) Unattached
11 BK Perry Baker (1986-06-29)June 29, 1986 (aged 32) Unattached
12 BK Martin Iosefo (1990-01-13)January 13, 1990 (aged 28) Unattached
BK Chris Mattina (1993-03-31)March 31, 1993 (aged 25) New York Athletic Club
FW Pat Blair (1990-01-27)January 27, 1990 (aged 28) Unattached

Head coach: Mike Friday [7]

See also

References
  1. "Las Vegas Sevens: 'Gladiator' USA team win on home soil", CNN, March 5, 2018.
  2. "Perry Baker took USA to sevens gold in Vegas – now the hard work begins", Guardian, March 5, 2018.
  3. "Las Vegas Sevens: 'Gladiator' USA team win on home soil", CNN, March 5, 2018.
  4. "Perry Baker took USA to sevens gold in Vegas – now the hard work begins", Guardian, March 5, 2018.
  5. "Las Vegas Sevens: 'Gladiator' USA team win on home soil", CNN, George Ramsey, March 5, 2018.
  6. "Benchmark Breach of Color Barrier for Eagles?", Rugby Mag, Pat Clifton, March 27, 2018.
  7. "USA Men's Squad Named for Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018". USA Rugby. 16 July 2018. Retrieved 16 July 2018.
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