U.S. not quite up to rugby’s elite level

The United States enjoyed unprecedented success at the USA Sevens rugby tournament at Sam Boyd Stadium, where a record crowd of 75,761 turned out for the three-day event.

The Eagles advanced to the Cup semifinal for only the third time in 14 years, but still have a way to go to approach rugby’s “Big Three” of Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa — rugby-mad countries that finished first, second and third, respectively, on Sunday.

The U.S., which finished fourth, lost 26-12 to New Zealand in its semifinal match before geting blitzed 31-0 by South Africa in the thirdplace match.

“We could’ve showed up better in the last game. It kind of caught up to us at the end,” American Danny Barrett said. “But I couldn’t be more proud of the boys putting in the hard work over the three days. This is where we want to be every time there’s a tournament.

“It’s more of a mental resolve now. We need to defeat that voice in our head.”

Fiji stormed to a 28-0 lead over a depleted New Zealand side in the Cup final en route to a 35-19 win.

“We played very well all three days,” Fiji coach Ben Ryan said. “There was a lot of Fiji support here and we’re very grateful for them.

“New Zealand had a few injuries so they were a bit down in firepower. We controlled the game well.”

The All Blacks, who have won four straight and 12 of 15 Seven World Series titles, started the tourney without their top two players and lost three more to injuries here.

The only drama in the final was how long it would take security guards to tackle the handful of fans from Sunday’s crowd of 25,874 who ran onto the pitch. The minor disturbance couldn’t detract from the rave reviews coaches and players alike gave the colorfully dressed, flag-waving crowds.

“It’s the best USA Sevens I’ve been at,” Ryan said of his ninth appearance. “That certainly was the best atmosphere.”

Said Zack Test, the Eagles’ career scoring leader and former walk-on wide receiver for Oregon: “This crowd, the whole weekend, has just been phenomenal. I played football for the University of Oregon at Autzen Stadium. When we scored tries, it reminded me of that. The fans were going nuts.”

The U.S., which whipped Canada 20-0 on Saturday to reach the Cup semifinals for the first time in the six-year history of the Las Vegas event, took a 7-0 lead over New Zealand on a try by Madison Hughes. The All Blacks responded with 21 straight points, turning two Eagles turnovers into tries to take a 21-7 halftime lead.

Hughes scored his second try to close the gap to 21-12 early in the second half, but Sam Dickson answered with a try as New Zealand held on for the win.

“We coughed up a couple possessions in the first half and they countered and scored. They’re deadly when it comes to that,” Test said. “We just made too many mistakes, but I’m very proud of the character of the boys and how far we’ve come.”

The U.S. is in eighth place in the 16-nation series after finishing 13th last year. The top four finishers this year will earn automatic berths to the 2016 Olympics. To reach the Rio Games, the Americans will probably have to beat Canada again at a regional Olympic qualifier in June.

Despite the Eagles getting blanked by the Blitzbokke a day after forging a 19-19 tie with them, first-year U.S. coach Mike Friday was pleased with their overall performance in Las Vegas.

“I’m immensely proud of every one of my guys. I think they’ve emptied the tanks for their country these last three days,” said Friday, who previously coached Kenya and England. “We need to put things into perspective. We were relegation material last year and this is basically the same squad. Now we’re fierce competitors who are feared by everybody.”

South Africa, which lost to Fiji 24-19 in their Cup semifinal, blitzed the U.S. early and often, turning turnovers into tries to take a 19-0 halftime lead.

“Mentally, we were slightly off at the start of that game,” Friday said. “We were still dwelling on the New Zealand game. South Africa had put their game to bed and they moved on.”

■ NOTES — Australia beat England 21-14 in the Plate final to finish fifth. ... Kenya edged Argentina 24-21 in the Bowl final to place seventh. ... Saturday’s crowd of 34,593 was a single-day record for the USA Sevens.

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow him on Twitter: @tdewey33.