Ever wanted to watch rugby? They put a faster, easier-to-understand version in the Olympics—and it doesn't hurt that Team USA is better at this version than the standard one.
My possibly incorrect impression of Team USA's men's rugby 7s team is that while the speedy sport-conversion guys (Baker and Isles) give us legit world class scoring threats, they aren't very much help on defense, and the rest of the team around them is somewhat pedestrian by world standards. Good enough to be competitive but a long shot for a medal
After watching the games, my revised analysis is that Baker shouldn't have played nearly as much as he did, as he really is a defensive liability and didn't offer as much offensively unless he could find space outside, and both Fiji and Australia kept the clamps on that happening. To me, team USA's real bright spot was Lucas Lacamp, who is maybe a little undersized but played hard on defense and has the burst to break lines inside or outside.
My possibly incorrect impression of Team USA's men's rugby 7s team is that while the speedy sport-conversion guys (Baker and Isles) give us legit world class scoring threats, they aren't very much help on defense, and the rest of the team around them is somewhat pedestrian by world standards. Good enough to be competitive but a long shot for a medal
Damn. This is like a way better analysis than I gave!!!
After watching the games, my revised analysis is that Baker shouldn't have played nearly as much as he did, as he really is a defensive liability and didn't offer as much offensively unless he could find space outside, and both Fiji and Australia kept the clamps on that happening. To me, team USA's real bright spot was Lucas Lacamp, who is maybe a little undersized but played hard on defense and has the burst to break lines inside or outside.