The biggest problem the American Eagles face every year in their build-up to the Cathay Pacific HongkongBank Sevens is the size of their country.
'Our country is so big that it is difficult to get everyone together for training sessions,' said San Franciscan Andre Bachelet, the captain of the US national team, yesterday.
However, this year, thanks to the good offices of the Hong Kong Chinese Bank, their sponsors, the Americans will be able to train for a full 10 days as a unit - in Hong Kong.
The Eagles were the first of the 23 national teams from overseas to arrive for this year's tournament.
They arrived on Tuesday night and coach Mike Saunders is hopeful that they will be able to benefit from being early birds.
'I hope all the extra preparation this year will be translated into points on the field,' said Saunders, who took over as sevens coach last year.
By the end of yesterday, the 10-strong team hailing, from Boston to San Francisco, had already had two rigorous workouts and face more in the run-up to the tournament next Friday.
