“After feeling disappointed and dissatisfied with our performances across the last two stops of the World Series, we entered into the summer training block with renewed hunger and ambition to improve as a team both on and off the field," said USA Head Coach Emilie Bydwell." We know we have the athleticism, talent and character to be consistent podium contenders but we need to be prepared to compete at every opportunity, fight for each other and nail the technical skills required to unleash the qualities that makes this team so special. We are very thankful to Brazil and Canada for making the trip to San Diego. The matches reaffirmed to us that when we commit to our game plan, we are exponentially more threatening as a unit and can ultimately express our individual super strengths more effectively."

Bydwell said the team's camp at Stellenbosch University has been very positive. 

"The camp here in Stellenbosch has been excellent so far, we have everything that we could need at the facility and the city is beautiful to explore," she said. "Our theme for the first week of this campaign is all around pressure, how we work with that pressure as individuals, how we communicate in pressure situations and finally how we manage pressure as a team to maximize our opportunities and not fracture. We will have the perfect pressure test on Saturday when we have the opportunity to scrimmage Ireland and France - knowing that both teams present different challenges that we need to be prepared to adapt to and solve."

The Rugby World Cup 7s kicks off at 2:45AM Eastern Time on Friday, September 9.

The USA Women play at 6:33AM and the USA Men play at 9:39AM.