Whitefish's Heavirland carries U.S. to sixth place finish in 7s series

CLERMONT-FERRAND, France — Whitefish’s Nicole Heavirland scored two tries on the final day of play at the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series on Sunday, helping the U.S. national team to a sixth place finish at the tournament and in the final season standings.

The Eagles slipped in their first match of the day, losing to Australia for the third time this season, 31-14 in the cup quarterfinals.

USA scored in the opening minute, with Heavirland converting the try to take a 7-0 lead on the Olympic gold medalists. But the Wallabies, who finished second overall in both the tournament and the season standings, answered quickly, scoring on the next possession to tie the game at 7-7. The Aussies extended that lead to 19-7 at halftime and after a U.S. try and Heavirland convert narrowed the advantage to five points, again took off in the second half to pull away with the win.

Falling to the fifth place bracket, the U.S. bounced back with its second win of the tournament against Ireland.

The U.S. scored two quick tries to start the game, the second a darting run from Heavirland to give the Eagles a 12-0 lead. The American advantage grew to 19-0 before an eventual 31-14 final score. Heavirland scored her second try of the tournament in the fifth-place final against Fiji, giving the U.S. a 12-7 lead in the first half. Fiji would pull away in the second half, however, winning the match 24-19 to leave the U.S. in sixth place.

The U.S. finished sixth overall for the season with 62 points, four points short of fourth place finishers Fiji and Russia. New Zealand won the event championship and France and the overall season championship. Australia finished second and Canada third.

Heavirland, who captained Team USA in the final series, finished third on the team in scoring for the season with 83 points. She was one of just four players to be selected for all six series.