page_title: United States national rugby sevens team
section_title: Professional era begins (2011–2014)
hierarchical_section_title: United States national rugby sevens team / World Rugby Sevens Series / Professional era begins (2011–2014)
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 2011–12 season saw significant changes for the U.S. The team turned professional in January 2012, with contracts for up to 15 players. The change to professional status did not bring immediate improvement. Head coach Al Caravelli resigned, and Alex Magleby was selected as the new head coach. The US finished the 2011–12 season in 11th, a slight improvement over the previous season, even though the team did not reach the quarterfinals of any of the 9 tournaments. Bright spots for the season included the emerging leadership of Shalom Suniula (captain), Zack Test (team leading 21 tries) and Colin Hawley.
  The 2012–13 Series saw a slightly different format, with 15 core teams instead of 12, but with the possibility of relegation for the teams that finished in the bottom three. The U.S. got off to a slow start, ranked last among the 15 core teams after the first two legs. The U.S. saw improvement, however, reaching the quarterfinals in five of the last seven tournaments, and finishing in the top 6 during the last three tournaments. The U.S. finished fifth to win the Plate Final at the 2013 Japan Sevens, the first time the U.S. had won a plate since 2001, and followed that feat by again finishing fifth to win the Plate Final at the 2013 Scotland Sevens, with Nick Edwards the leading try-scorer in the tournament with 8 tries. The U.S. finished the season in 11th place, and had two players among the season's top try-scorers:  Nick Edwards (20) and Zack Test (18). Coach Alex Magleby stepped down after the season.
  The U.S. team fared poorly during the 2013–14 Series under new coach Matt Hawkins, finishing the season in 13th place. Once again, Zack Test led the team with 23 tries and 119 points on the season; other leading scorers included Carlin Isles with 17 tries, including six at the 2014 Wellington Sevens, and newcomer Madison Hughes with 34 goals scored. Hawkins was blamed for the exodus of several veteran players, such as Colin Hawley and Shalom Suniula, and was asked to step down at the end of the season.
caption: Zack Test
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 YCbCrPositioning": "Centered", "Image Copyright": "DEPARTMENT OF STATE 2013", "Image ExifOffset": "290", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "1018", "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 ComponentsConfiguration": "YCbCr", "EXIF ShutterSpeedValue": "15437/1549", "EXIF ApertureValue": "40761/8200", "EXIF ExposureBiasValue": "0", "EXIF MaxApertureValue": "24361/8200", "EXIF MeteringMode": "Pattern", "EXIF LightSource": "Fine weather", "EXIF Flash": "Flash did not fire", "EXIF FocalLength": "31", "EXIF SubSecTimeOriginal": "70", "EXIF SubSecTimeDigitized": "70", "EXIF FlashPixVersion": "0100", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "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"}