A week ago we wrote about how the USA women's 7s team was not as bad as a 7th-place finish made it appear, and sure enough the Eagles were a bit better this week in Dubai; but they can be better still.

The Eagles finished 5th, with Naya Tapper scoring six tries and some other players putting in some notable performances. But they had head-scratching moments, too. Here's a look at the games and what we saw:

USA 12 Fiji 21

Fiji has emerged as a world power and that's good for the game. But that doesn't mean you just shrug and say "oh, wow, they're good." The Eagles led this game 12-7 with about two minutes to go and let it slip through their fingers. They scored by finding a chance for Tapper, who used her footwork and her fend to race in. But the attempts to set free Jaz Gray didn't come off, as the younger speedster looked a little hesitant to just pin her ears back, and she was just not physical enough.

The USA spent six minutes in the Fiji half in the first half and got only the one try out of it. Too many bad passes, fumbled balls, and decision-making mistakes crept in. Fiji then ended the half with a breakaway that was entirely avoidable.

In the second half a big break from Kris Thomas set them up and then Ilona Maher crashed over. We'll talk about Maher a bit more below, but she was very good.

Being slow to back up Maher on a run late in the game was the reason why the USA gave up a penalty, and after that the Fijians exposed some poor tackles and then scored off the restart. They had that game and kind of gave it away.

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USA 19 Ireland 12

This game a thrilling with breaks back and forth and some heroic cover tackling (Alev Kelter and especially Tapper made some key defensive plays). Ireland hurt the USA playing a vertical game up the middle; the USA burned Ireland on the outside, with Kelter working a move and setting up Maher, and Tapper also going in.

It was 12-12 at halftime and the game remained that way as full time approached. The effort put in on defense was nice to see. With no time left a superb counterruck led to Maher and Tapper moving the ball and Lote Tausinga taking a beautiful Maher pass to go in and score. Game over.

USA 0 France 28

France was more physical, more confident, more together. The USA has some players who are struggling to justify their spot on this team. Loopy, slow passes, weak tackling, grabbing big players around the arm and hoping they capitulate isn't going to do it.

USA 40 Great Britain 17

Get excited about this effort ... sort of. Great Britain was playing very poorly on Week 2 in Dubai. They were not playing with a viable pattern on defense or attack, and were just hoping an individual effort would create tries. Two of the three GB tries scored happened then the game was well in hand for the USA.

Tapper scored three in the first half in sort of a if-it-ain't-broke-don't-fix-it model. The second one came when GB tapped back the restart and out of nowhere Spiff Sedrick dove on the ball and made it available for the USA. We hadn't seen much of Sedrick until this game, but she had made an impact against Ireland and earned more time in this game. She was very good. She was more powerful in contact; she was tenacious; she relished the battle. While some other players didn't run through contact, Sedrick was doing that.

Kelter was held out of the first game but did well here.

USA 7 Spain 5

This was a horrendous game in many ways, but specifically because referee Katherine Ritchie made some very odd calls. Policing the ruck is difficult, but there were a couple of very clear instances of penalties the USA should have received that went the other direction.

In the end the Eagles made far too many mistakes. Tapper scored early but then they couldn't quite get out of their own way. Sedrick made a great play to force a holding-on penalty in the USA 22. But moments later she ran away from her support, when she had better options, and was penalized for the same infraction.

At the end of the game, the Eagles were down a player due to a yellow card, but they held on; Maher made a massive tackle and Tapper forced a penalty. Kelter tapped and kicked it dead to win the game, despite the ref.

Analysis

What new Head Coach Emilie Bydwell wants is for players to engage contact and send off a wraparound one-handed offload. When it works, it's lovely. But if players don't stay strong in contact, it can go very wrong. 

She’s on it,” Gustaitis said in an article by World Rugby. “We talk all day, every day, and it's exciting because she's very transparent and she has a lot of trust in me, and she has a lot of trust in the team and in us as players. She gives us ownership of different parts of the game, which I really like, and she doesn't want it to just be a coach-oriented squad. She wants to empower us as players to own our roles and to really rely on one another because at the end of the day, we're the ones out there on the field, and she just wants to give us the tools to do that.”

Bydwell is still learning about her team, and she's trying to get time for some of the younger players, but at some point players have to look in the mirror. Maher has been awe-inspiring (the actual definition of "awesome" rather than using that word as a catch-all). She runs with power, but is happy to use space, her passing is smart and precise, and she loves playing defense. For a bigger player her fitness if very good. Other supposed power players just aren't in her league. Alev Kelter has so much to offer, and she commits penalties at a startling rate. The tradeoff is usually worth it, but it's enormously frustrating, especially when it's a very close game and she gets pinged for not releasing the tackled player (again!) in a ruck that could just as well be left alone.

Gustaitis is a very smart player and good at a bunch of stuff. The USA team doesn't use her as a strike runner, and we wonder why. Why can't they work plays to set her up? Is Gustaitis just that unselfish? Please. Tapper is playing her best rugby in four years. Sedrick, as we noted, did not play like a shrinking violet and when she and Maher were working together—two MA Sorensen Award-winners—it was something we'd like to see more of. Sui A'au was a Sorensen finalist and her physicality and her ability to exert it all over the field is something the Eagles need.

Now that doesn't mean we give up on players, but there are some who need a reality check on how you deal with tacklers, how you protect the ball, and how you make passes. Adequate is not, in fact, adequate. Finishing 5th is fine, which is where they finished in Dubai and are in the overall standings, but the potential is so much more. They need more players to show the intensity and work rate of Maher, the understanding of the laws of Gustaitis, and the desire to empty the tank of Tapper. Russia has grit, France power, Fiji pace, and Australia all of that coupled with superb teamwork. The Eagles can have that, too ... if they want it.