The USA Women’s Sevens team opened Sunday with a cup quarterfinal against England. It did not go well. The Americans fell behind 10-0 quickly and despite a late in the first half try the deficit was 22-7 early in the second half before the US eventually lost 29-7. The loss sent the US into their third meeting with Spain in the last two weeks. Having won last weekend and lost on Saturday the US and Spain played out a rubber match that was back and forth and quite competitive. The US would score a try late on to cut the deficit to 14-12 but the conversion kick from Akalaini Baraviala was no good and the US fell into the seventh place match against Russia.

Having beaten the Russians 19-7 last weekend for fifth place this meeting was a bit more competitive. The US opened with a 5-0 lead before Russia led 10-5 going into the final minutes. The US was able to tie it on a Kristen Thomas try off the bench but Baraviala’s conversion attempt was unable to give the US the win in regulation. Instead the two teams went to sudden death overtime and it didn’t take long for Joanne Fa’avesi to win it for the US.

Another month from now the final Sevens event will be held in Clermont-Ferrand, France. The season standings are such that the US has already clinched their spot in next year’s series and also are not able to win this seasons. It’ll take a strong final weekend though for the US to jump from their current seventh into the fifth spot where they finished last year.

Previous HSBC Women’s Sevens Series Coverage:
Langford Sevens Preview
Day 1 Update

The USA Women’s Sevens team went 3-0 against Spain, Fiji, and New Zealand last weekend. The second verse was not quite the same as the first. The US started off the day great with a Leyla Kelter try in the first minute and an early 7-0 lead over Spain. That lead would last until the very end of the match when a Spain try gave them a 10-7 win. The US got a 24-12 win over Fiji to head into the final match with New Zealand with a chance to win the group.

Again the US had an early 7-0 lead thanks to a Bui Baraviala try but New Zealand scored 19 unanswered to win 19-7. The US still managed to finish second in the pool as Fiji rallied late to overturn a 10-5 deficit and upset Spain 15-10 and send the US into a Sunday cup quarterfinal against England. England was 2-1 on Saturday with a 5-0 loss to Canada the blemish. The other part of the US half of the bracket is Australia-Spain while the four teams on the far side of the bracket are New Zealand, Russia, France, and Canada.

Previous HSBC Women’s Sevens Series Coverage:
Langford Sevens Preview

The USA Women’s Sevens team played Spain and New Zealand in the group stage last weekend and beat them both. They played Fiji in the plate semifinals and shut them out 38-0. Now this weekend in Langford, British Columbia the US will look to duplicate those wins in the group stage as they look to improve on last weekends fifth place finish.

The US will start things off with Spain and Fiji before closing the group stage out with the much more challenging New Zealand side. With just one more sevens weekend before the Olympics this summer the US is running out of good chances to get some warm-up in and gather valuable information for final roster decisions for Rio.

Previous HSBC Women’s Sevens Series Coverage:
Atlanta Sevens Recap

The USA Women’s Sevens team caught a bad break this weekend in Atlanta. Had they finished second in the group their opponent in the quarterfinals would have been France, a good side with a fourth and fifth place finish in the first two stages of the year. Instead by winning the group they ended up drawing the two-time champions Australia who had suffered a shock loss to England on Friday. So the win over New Zealand actually gave the US a tougher matchup in the quarterfinals.

The result was a 22-5 loss to Australia while New Zealand was able to beat France 24-7. The US try came right at the end after trailing 12-0 at the half. They would rebound however with a 38-0 smackdown of Fiji in the plate semifinals behind tries from five players including two from Leyla Kelter and then a 19-7 victory over Russia to claim the plate. The US trailed Russia 7-5 shortly before the half before taking the lead on a Richelle Stephens try that would prove to be the plate winner.

It was a positive weekend for the US who will feel unlucky that they had such a tough quarterfinal matchup and feel good that they beat the New Zealand side that pushed Australia in the final and came in second. The HSBC Women’s Sevens Series will be back in action next week in Langford, British Columbia for their fourth of five events. The US has been once again drawn into a pool with New Zealand and Spain while Fiji is the other team. All three were beaten by the US this weekend. The good news is that winning the pool next weekend would result in a matchup with a third place finisher and there’s no way Australia ends up there…. right?

The USA Women’s Sevens team has not finished a tournament this year with a winning record. They still need to win one more on Saturday to change that fact but it would certainly be shocking if they failed to do that now after a sweep of pool play on Friday in Atlanta. The US started things off with dominant wins 24-0 over Spain and 33-12 over Japan setting up a showdown with New Zealand for the top spot in the pool. A fantastic match saw the US go in front 5-0 after a Leyla Kelter try three minutes in but New Zealand was able to answer and even things up before the half.

Eventually the US broke through with Jessica Javelet coming off the bench and scoring the game winning try for the US giving them a 12-5 win and top spot in Pool C. If you thought winning the pool would result in an easy match for the US, think again. Australia finished second in their pool to England so the US ends up playing the Aussies in a tough Cup Quarterfinal on Saturday at 1:14 PM ET. The other two teams on the US side of the bracket are Canada and Fiji while the other side of the bracket features England, Russia, New Zealand, and France.

The USA Women’s Sevens team got off to a poor start this year in Dubai back in December when they went just 1-4 and finished ahead of only Ireland. With only five events in the series and the bottom two teams being relegated it was important that they got going in round two and they did that in Brazil as they went 3-3 and finished 4th with all of their losses to Australia or New Zealand.

They look to improve on that finish this weekend on home turf as they host the Atlanta Sevens. Things look solid for the US to advance to the cup quarterfinals this weekend as their pool contains New Zealand as the big dog but Japan and Spain as the other competition. The US is ahead of both teams on the series this year and you’d expect them to hold them off for second in the group.

The US kicks off play on Friday with pool matches against Spain at 2:20 PM ET, Japan at 5:04 PM ET, and finally New Zealand at 7:26 PM ET. Knockout round competition will take place on Saturday.