GRR: National Teams
The USA women are 2-0 in Seville, putting themselves in an excellent position to finish high in the tournament once again.
The Eagles took apart Portugal, which is a guest team in this tournament and is experiencing the World Series level of play for the first time, and then held off a tenacious England side with a strong second half.
The USA Men’s 7s team just, barely, got by a tenacious Spain to virtually assure a Cup Quarterfinal spot at the World Series 7s in Seville, Spain.
The reason this one victory likely gets the Eagles into the quarterfinals is because Samoa was unable to compete, making every fixture against Samoa a forfeit. So Spain, South Africa, and the USA all started with a win in their pocket.
Champions from last week, the USA Women's 7s team will go into this week's tournament in Seville without their all-world player Ilona Maher.
Out due to COVID protocols, Maher will be tough to replace, as he unique combination of power, speed, size, and work rate helped drive the Eagles to the title in Málaga.
Sui A'Au comes in to replace her.
The USA Men's 7s team looks forward to Seville after an up-and-down performance in Málaga last week.
They battled to hold off Spain, exploding for three solid tries in the first half and gritting their teeth through the second. They took apart Jamaica in a game that started in a worrying way, with the Jamaicans controlling possession. But the Eagles were patient, and then explosive.
The USA women’s 7s team won the Malaga 7s and in doing so showed how team play beats relying on individuals every time.
While it’s fair to say that Ilona Maher was one of the stars of the tournament and deserved to be Player of the Final, she got that nod because of how she worked with her teammates. Everyone contributed.
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