2nd Place, and Clear Improvement, for Both USA Falcons Teams in Haguenau
2nd Place, and Clear Improvement, for Both USA Falcons Teams in Haguenau
The USA Falcons women took 2nd in the EAAST 7s in Haguenau, France.
The Falcons were 2-1 on Day One, beating Tropics 7s and Germany, while losing to the New Zealand Cavaliers.
That set up Sunday's semifinal with Tropics, which they won 19-10. The Cavaliers won their semi and so the two teams met up in the final.
The New Zealanders took the final 22-5. Overall, it's worth having a look at how the Cavaliers and the Falcons fared over the two EAAST 7s tournaments, Cognac and Haguenau:
Against everyone except the USA Falcons, the NZ Cavaliers were 6-0 with an average scoreline of 44-9
USA Falcons against everyone except the NZ Cavaliers went 5-0 with an average score of 26-6 with three shutouts.
USA Falcons vs NZ Cavaliers scores on a timeline: Loss by 51, loss by 21, loss by 19, loss by 17.
The USA Falcons men also finished 2nd in Haguenau. After going 2-1 in the first day, and losing only to the New Zealand Cavaliers, the Falcons finished the six-team round robin with a 36-5 win over Tropics 7s and 38-12 over Pacific Toa.
That wrapped up round-robin play 4-1, just behind the Cavaliers, who finished the Round Robin with two shutout wins to go 5-0.
So the top two teams played in the final and it was USA Falcons vs the New Zealand Cavaliers, and the Cavaliers took the win 29-14.
Again, this was two tournaments in which the USA Falcons were second-best to the New Zealanders, but clearly better than everyone else. They lost to a team not called the NZ Cavaliers in the first tournament, but didn't do that again, taking 5th in Cognac and now 2nd in Haguenau. Their results against New Zealand showed improvement, with their first loss being 41-7 and the two results in Haguenau being 27-19 and 29-14.
To put this in perspective, the Falcons against everyone else in Haguenau were 4-0 with an average score of 40-6. For the Cavaliers, gave up 12 points in their other four matches, but 33 to the Falcons in two games.
