Quarterfinals bound
The Americans controlled their own destiny entering the final match of pool play. They needed a win against Uruguay to advance to the quarterfinals, regardless of the outcomes of the other pool matches. The U.S. secured a convincing 33-17 win to advance to the quarterfinals for the second-straight Olympics, matching their Tokyo performance.
On the first day of pool play, the Americans earned a draw against France and took a loss against Fiji, the tie playing huge in their ability to advance. In the Olympic tournament, a win is worth three points, a draw two points and a loss one point. The top two teams from each pool automatically advance to the quarterfinals, and then the next overall top-two finishers advance. No other pool saw a draw, ensuring that if the Americans won the match against Uruguay, they’d advance.
The U.S. men finished third in their pool because they had a lower point differential than France. Quarterfinal play will kick off at 2 p.m. ET on Peacock and USA Network.
How they got there
The surprise of pool play was the United States’ draw against France in its first match in Paris. The host nation entered the tournament as heavy medal favorites behind star Antoine Dupont. The Americans held Dupont scoreless, while seeing tries from Lucas Lacamp and Marcus Tupuola. As time expired with the score even at 12 all, the Americans chose to kick the ball out of touch, ending the match, instead of attempting to score. By doing so, they took the sure two points instead of potentially only securing one point if France forced a turnover and scored.
SEE MORE: U.S. holds podium favorite France to a tie
The Americans’ match against Fiji proved difficult. Fiji hadn’t lost a match since rugby returned to the Olympics in 2016. Despite tries by Baker and Orrin Bizer, the Fijians cruised to a 38-12 win. Ultimately, the lopsided loss opened the door for France’s better point differential in the pool.
The match against Uruguay proved to be a confidence builder. Veteran Perry Baker wasted no time, putting the Americans on the board just 20 seconds in. Momentum shifted briefly in the first with Uruguay scoring back-to-back tries. However, tournament standouts Lacamp and Baker executed a give-and-go sequence to power the Americans to a two-point lead at the half. Baker added two more tries in the second half to score a total of four on the day.
Baker leads all Americans with five tries in the tournament.
© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.