NACRA Day 2: USA Men & Women onto Rio

After a weekend of playing in the hot North Carolina sun, the two hottest teams at the North American Caribbean Rugby Association Sevens Championships claimed championships. The USA Men and Women both booked their places in the 2016 Rio Olympics with convincing efforts on Day 2 of the tournament. Both teams surrendered their first points of the tournament on Day 2, coincidentally both to Jamaica, but delivered dominant performances from the beginning to the end of the tournament.

“An excellent job by both teams, focused, accurate and effective,” said USA Rugby CEO Nigel Melville.

The runners-up in each division still have one last shot at Olympic qualification as they will represent the NACRA in the repechage tournament. Mexico and Trinidad & Tobago still have a lifeline to Rio in the Women’s division while Canada and Mexico will face a daunting task in the Men’s division.

The USA Women were first to qualify as they put an exclamation point on their tournament with a 88-0 win over Mexico in the Women’s Final. The Eagles opened up Day 2 with a 59-0 win over the Bahamas in the Quarterfinals and followed that with a 53-5 win over Jamaica in the Semifinals, setting up their championship match with Mexico. The USA scored early and often in the finals against Mexico as they capped a weekend that saw the side outscore their opponents by a meteoric margin of 369-5.

The 3rd place match in the Women’s bracket, to decide the second repechage participant, saw Trinidad & Tobago pip Jamaica 12-10 in a competitive matchup. Trinidad & Tobago posted a good run on Day 2, winning 2 out of 3 games and nearly upsetting Mexico in the Women’s semifinal.

The USA Men followed the Women’s lead with their 21-5 win over rival Canada. Expected to be the game of the tournament, the matchup proved to be mostly in favor of the USA as they stormed out to a 21-0 lead by halftime with tries from Perry Baker, Danny Barrett, and Maka Unufe. The try from Barrett showcasing the margin between the two sides as Barrett, a forward, held off Canada’s Sean Duke, one their fastest backs, for a long try.

A yellow card to Folau Niua just before halftime gave Canada a glimmer of hope, but they were unable to capitalize on the advantage due to strong defensive work from the Eagles. A few mistakes from the USA gave Canada the lion’s share of possession in the second half, but the Maple Leafs struggled to break the Eagles’ lines. With time draining, Canada finally made it over the line with a score from Harry Jones that left the score at 21-5. As the final moments ran off the clock, USA’s Chris Wyles received the team’s second yellow card of the match. Down a man for the second time, the Eagles secured the ball one last time and kicked to touch to clinch victory.

While Canada dominated their opposition for all but one match this weekend, the side was noticeably off a step. Despite some lopsided scores in the earlier rounds, they lacked the finishing capabilities of the USA and relied heavily on physical play. When faced with an equally physical opponent in the USA, they had trouble offensively.

The USA men, while not quite as dominating as the Women, outscored their opponents by a remarkable 229-10 points this weekend.

When asked how it felt clinching the Olympic bid, USA Captain Madison Hughes answered emphatically, “it feels amazing.”

The Men’s 3rd place match went to Mexico, but not without a strong push from the Cayman Islands. Mexico held a strong lead late into the 2nd half only to see Cayman Islands storm back only to have time run out with the score at 26-19. The win capped a solid weekend for Mexico, whose only losses came to the USA and Canada. Team Mexico will go to the repechage tournament as heavy underdogs, but should gain valuable experience.

NACRA Day 2 Scores

Women’s Bracket

Quarterfinals

USA 59 Bahamas 0

Jamaica 24 Guyana 0

Trinidad & Tobago 27 Cayman Islands 7

Mexico 30 Barbados 5

Semifinals

USA 53 Jamaica 5

Mexico 15 Trinidad & Tobago 0

Consolation Semifinals

Guyana 25 Bahamas 0

Cayman Islands 12 Barbados 0

7/8th Place – Bahamas 36 Barbados 0

5/6th Place – Cayman Islands 12 Guyana 5

3/4th Place – Trinidad & Tobago 12 Jamaica 10

1st Place – USA 88 Mexico 0

Men’s Bracket

Pool Play

Mexico 33 Bahamas 0

USA 40 Jamaica 5

Guyana 29 Trinidad & Tobago 5

Canada 36 Cayman Islands 0

Semifinals

USA 60 Cayman Islands 0

Canada 36 Mexico 0

Consolation Semifinals

Guyana 29 Barbados 5

Jamaica 17 Bahamas 0

7/8th Place – Bahamas 10 Barbados 5

5/6th Place – Guyana Jamaica (score unconfirmed)

3/4th Place – Mexico 26 Cayman Islands 19

1st Place – USA 21 Canada 5