Tomahawks prove they are worthy of the World Sevens

The USA Tomahawks put forth a valiant effort to qualify for the World Sevens at the qualifying tournament at St.Marys, only to be denied by eventual tournament winners, the NASCA Australian Aborigines.

The Tomahawks received tremendous support from the 4,000 strong crowd who witnessed a great day of sevens in searing heat in Sydney's western suburbs. The on field temperature soared to 105 degrees for much of the event which presented difficult and trying conditions in the modified game of League.

The first match saw the Tomahawks thrash the Japanese Samurais by 28-4. The US ran in six tries but were only able to convert two of them, which would ultimately prove costly.

Try scorers -
Steve Watene 2,Jason Hardy 2,Marcus Vassilakopoulos,Stuart
Pierce
Goals-
Steve Watene, Jason Hardy.

The addition of Ian Mortimer, son of former Australian Kangaroo, who's mother is American and Stuart Pierce of the Cronulla Sharks NRL Club, who has a greencard through marriage, certainly proved invaluable and their presence in the coming USA Tour to Australia will add tremendous depth to the tour squad.

The second match was against the NASCA Australian Aborigines, who were hot favourites for the tournament. In a tough encounter the Tomahawks fought hard to the last minute before eventually going down 28-14 with the Aborigines scoring in the final seconds to secure the win. Unfortunately for the Tomahawks their quest for a semi final berth was thwarted by them only scoring three tries. With a number of teams level after pool rounds with one win and one loss, it was required that the Tomahawks break the deadlock by scoring more tries. With NSW Country on nine, the US needed to score four tries against the Aborigines to gain entry to the playoffs but their brave effort fell just short with both teams finishing on nine tries, with the NSW Country squad moving through on points aggregate. They finished ahead of the USA by two points, with the Tomahawks ruing a couple of simple conversions in the Japan match that would have seen them sneak in.

Try-scorers Jason Hardy,Dane Morgan,Warren Heilig.
Goal-Warren Heilig

The Tomahawks made a tremendous impact on the tournament and have set tremendous interest for the forthcoming internationals in Sydney from February 6. Best for the USA were Stuart Pierce, Ian Mortimer, Jason Hardy, Marcus Vassilakopoulos and Steve Watene. The tackle of the day was made by New York Knights latest recruit, Duane Millard, who ran down a flying Japanese Samurai as he sped toward pride and honor in the shape of the try line, that brought the crowd to their feet and the Samurais to their knees.

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