The United States national rugby sevens team season began the 2015–16 World Rugby Sevens Series by "shocking the world" when it defeated New Zealand for the first time at 2015 Dubai Sevens."USA rugby sevens team shocks the world, defeats New Zealand", Washington Post, Jake Russell, December 4, 2015. The United States team beat the 12-time World Series champion in pool play and again in the tournament's third-place match"U.S. ends Dubai trip with second defeat of New Zealand, third place title" , USA Rugby, December 5, 2015. before a third victory in as many matches in the 2015 South Africa Sevens Plate Semifinal."U.S. continues roll over New Zealand in Cape Town Plate Semifinal" , USA Rugby, December 13, 2015. 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.

World Rugby Sevens Series Leg Date Finish Record (W-L-D) Leading Try Scorer Leading Points Scorer Dream Team selection Dubai December 2015 3rd 4 – 2 (6) (30) South Africa December 2015 6th 3 – 3 (5) (59) — New Zealand January 2016 T-7th 2 – 3 (4) (21) — Australia February 2016 T-7th 2 – 3 (5) (30) — United States March 2016 4th 2 – 2 – 1 (5) (25) Canada March 2016 6th 3 – 3 (8) (48) Martin Iosefo Hong Kong April 2016 6th 4 – 2 (7) (35) – Singapore April 2016 10th 3 – 3 (6) (34) – France May 2016 11th 2–3 (5) (25) – England May 2016 3rd 3–2–1 (8) (40) 6th Perry Baker (48) Madison Hughes (331) Perry Baker (3)

Dubai Sevens Coming into the tournament, the U.S. had lost 28 consecutive matches to New Zealand. In pool play at the 2015 Dubai Sevens, however, the U.S. notched its first win, despite missing regular forwards Danny Barrett and Andrew Durutalo. The U.S. won 14–12 behind two tries from Perry Baker, and a touchline conversion from Madison Hughes at the end of the match.

+ 2015 Dubai Sevens pool play: U.S. lineup vs. New Zealand Player Position Garrett Bender Forward Zack Test Forward Matai Leuta Forward Folau Niua Scrum-half Madison Hughes Fly-half Maka Unufe Center Perry Baker Wing

Players

World Series + Leading U.S. players (2015–16 WS season) Player Matches Caps Tackles Tries Points Perry Baker 55 10 78 48 240 Folau Niua 55 10 87 11 55 Madison Hughes 54 10 118 23 331 Zack Test 49 9 89 22 110 Danny Barrett 42 8 25 6 30 Garrett Bender 39 8 67 4 20 Martin Iosefo 37 7 31 10 50 Ben Pinkelman 36 7 42 8 40 Maka Unufe 34 7 31 10 50 Nate Augspurger 32 9 25 3 35 Carlin Isles 27 5 30 16 80 Thretton Palamo 23 6 12 2 10 Matai Leuta 19 21 2 10

Updated: May 23, 2016

2016 Summer Olympics squad

The table below shows the U.S. roster assembled for the most recent tournament. The statistics (events, points, and tries) refer to statistics generated in World Rugby Sevens Series tournaments."USA Rugby Names 2016 U.S. Olympic Men's Rugby Team", July 18, 2016.

+ Tournament squad Player Age Events Points Tries 60 691 137 (c) 21 665 49 38 380 39 28 380 76 17 335 67 13 270 54 21 185 37 21 162 32 28 127 25 11 60 12 22 55 11 5 30 6 2 10 2

+ Training squad Player Age Events Points Tries 41 328 20 30 265 53 13 180 36 6 57 11 16 42 8 17 35 7 13 32 2 6 20 4 4 5 1 18 0 0 8 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

References