page_title: United States national rugby sevens team
section_title: Top 6 finishes (2014–present)
hierarchical_section_title: United States national rugby sevens team / World Rugby Sevens Series / Top 6 finishes (2014–present)
caption_attribution_description: English: On Monday, February 3rd the public had the opportunity to meet the USA Rugby Sevens team ahead of the Wellington Sevens Rugby Tournament. There was free food, player autograph signings and fun rugby drills. newzealand.usembassy.gov
context_page_description: The United States national rugby sevens team competes in international rugby sevens competitions. The national sevens team is organized by USA Rugby, and the team has been led by Head Coach Mike Friday since 2014.
  The main competition the team plays in every year is the World Rugby Sevens Series, a series of ten tournaments played around the globe from December to June that includes the USA Sevens tournament every spring. The Eagles have been a core team in the World Series and finished in the top twelve each season since 2008–09. The Eagles' best season in the Sevens Series has been a second-place finish in the 2018–19 Series. The best result in a single Sevens tournament was first place, which they have accomplished three times — winning the 2015 London Sevens and the 2018 and 2019 USA Sevens.
  The team also participates in major tournaments every four years, such as the Summer Olympics, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, and the Pan American Games. Their best finishes in quadrennial events include finishing ninth at the 2016 Olympics, finishing sixth at the 2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens, and winning bronze medals at the 2011 and 2015 Pan American Games.
context_section_description: The U.S. had its best season ever in the 2014–15 Series under head coach Mike Friday, who was hired in summer 2014. The U.S. finished sixth in the series, its best finish to date. The team capped off the season by winning the 2015 London Sevens after defeating Australia in the cup final, the first time the U.S. has won a World Series tournament. Carlin Isles set a U.S. record with 32 tries for the season and Madison Hughes set a record with 296 points.
  The U.S. began the 2015–16 Series by "shocking the world" when it defeated New Zealand for the first time at 2015 Dubai Sevens. The team beat the 12-time World Series champion in pool play and again in the tournament's third-place match before a third victory in as many matches in the 2015 South Africa Sevens Plate Semifinal. The U.S. once again finished the season in sixth, tying its best ever finish. The previous season's scoring records were broken again, as Perry Baker notched 48 tries and Madison Hughes scored 331 points.
  The U.S. began the 2016-17 World Series slowly, sitting in 11th place after the first three rounds. The U.S. was missing certain key players from the previous season. The U.S. turned things around mid-season. In the second half of the season, the team for the first time reached four consecutive semifinals: first at the USA Sevens where the U.S. finished third; then at the Canada Sevens where Perry Baker scored 9 tries including his 100th career try; followed by Hong Kong and Singapore. The U.S. finished the season in fifth place overall, a record high for the team. Perry Baker was the season's leading try scorer (57) and points scorer (285) on the Series, whereas Madison Hughes ranked third in points (279). Perry Baker and Danny Barrett were both selected to the 2016-17 Dream Team, and Baker was selected as the 2017 World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year.
  The 2017–18 season began badly for the U.S. In the first tournament in Dubai, Baker suffered a concussion, and the rest of the team limped to a last place finish. The U.S. improved from that point on, reaching the semifinals of the Australia Sevens. The team then won the 2018 USA Sevens, the first time the U.S. won their home tournament, boosted in large part by Perry Baker, who led all scorers with 8 tries; Baker, along with forwards Ben Pinkelman and Danny Barrett all made the tournament Dream Team. Overall the team displayed inconsistent performances, reaching the Cup semifinals theee times, but also failing to qualify for the cup quarterfinals three times. Despite the inconsistent play, the U.S. finished sixth overall.
  The U.S. got off to a strong start in the 2018–19 season. The team reached the finals in Dubai, South Africa, New Zealand, and Australia, the first time the U.S. had reached four consecutive finals and was ranked joint first in the overall Series after the first four legs. In the fifth leg, the U.S. won beating Samoa 27–0. This was the U.S.’s second straight USA Sevens win, giving them sole possession of first place in the Sevens World Series. The U.S. remained in first place for several more tournaments, but consecutive semifinal losses to Fiji in the last two tournaments in London and Paris meant that Fiji won the Series with the U.S. finishing second. The U.S. overall had its best season ever — the second place finish beating their previous best of fifth. Additionally, qualifying for five consecutive tournament finals as well as reaching the semifinals in all ten tournaments were U.S. records. Carlin Isles scored 52 tries, ranked first overall among all players.
  The U.S. started slowly in the 2019–20 season; with the team resting some players who had played at the October 2019 Rugby World Cup, the team sat in eighth place after the first two events.
caption: USA Rugby sevens team in 2014
exif: {"Image Make": "NIKON CORPORATION", "Image Model": "NIKON D3", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop Camera Raw 8.2 (Windows)", "Image DateTime": "2014:02:04 12:00:56", "Image Artist": "OLA THORSEN", "Image Copyright": "DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2013", "Image ExifOffset": "278", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "970", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "18941", "EXIF ExposureTime": "1/1000", "EXIF FNumber": "28/5", "EXIF ExposureProgram": "Aperture Priority", "EXIF ISOSpeedRatings": "200", "EXIF ExifVersion": "0230", "EXIF DateTimeOriginal": "2014:02:03 17:54:21", "EXIF DateTimeDigitized": "2014:02:03 17:54:21", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "1245723/125000", "EXIF ApertureValue": "2485427/500000", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "3", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "31", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "70", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "70", "EXIF SensingMethod": "One-chip color area", "EXIF FileSource": "Digital Camera", "EXIF SceneType": "Directly Photographed", "EXIF CVAPattern": "[2, 0, 2, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2]", "EXIF CustomRendered": "Normal", "EXIF ExposureMode": "Auto Exposure", "EXIF WhiteBalance": "Manual", "EXIF DigitalZoomRatio": "1", "EXIF FocalLengthIn35mmFilm": "31", "EXIF SceneCaptureType": "Standard", "EXIF GainControl": "None", "EXIF Contrast": "Normal", "EXIF Saturation": "Normal", "EXIF Sharpness": "Normal", "EXIF SubjectDistanceRange": "0", "EXIF BodySerialNumber": "2066175", "EXIF LensSpecification": "[24, 70, 14/5, 14/5]", "EXIF LensModel": "24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8"}