Argentina make history while New Zealand end SVNS drought in Vancouver
Argentina have continued to stamp their mark on the Men’s SVNS Series with their third win in four Cup finals, and New Zealand have claimed their first piece of silverware for the season.
Pumas Sevens have been the form team of the 2023/24 season. After losing the final in Dubai to South Africa, Argentina have won three on the trot including a historic win Vancouver on Sunday.
For the first time in the history of sevens in Vancouver, the Argentinians have become the first men’s side to win the event three times in a row – backing up their efforts in 2022 and 2023.
Sevens rivals New Zealand opened the scoring with tries to Joe Webber and Brady Rush inside the opening few minutes, but it was all Argentina from there who scored 36 unanswered points.
Matias Osadczuk ran riot with a rapid hat-trick at the death to seal Argentina’s stunning 36-12 triumph at BC Place Stadium, but their point-scoring blitz began with a familiar superstar.
Marcos Moneta, who was nominated for World Rugby’s Sevens Player of the Year in 2023, crossed in the fourth minute and once again played a starring role in the SVNS Vancouver win.
“We don’t know,” Moneta told RugbyPass. “Maybe there’s some magic in the air.
“Each time we come here we feel like we’re at home. When you win the first time, maybe the second time, (but) the third time you’re more motivated.
“I’m really happy for the team to win a gold medal and third in Vancouver.”
That’s liftoff for our champions @nz_sevens and @lospumas7arg 🚀🏆#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSVAN pic.twitter.com/lp0XP3febK
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) February 26, 2024
Down on the field about 30 minutes or so after the full-time whistle, the Pumas Sevens continued to celebrate their historic triumph.
Even at the time of writing, which is about an hour after kick-off, there are still a couple of Argentina players still on the field – including Moneta.
There’s a reason that Moneta has risen up to superstar status within the game of rugby sevens with his blistering pace. When Moneta gets underway, there’s just no catching him.
“I’m quick because of my coaches, my coaches that have been coaching me since I was a kid and the coach right now,” Moneta said.
“I don’t know, I was born with some speed, I don’t know. I just run. Close my eyes and run.”
Earlier, the New Zealand women’s sevens side won their first Cup final of the 2023/24 season after running away with a commanding 35-19 win over France.
Michaela Blyde and Jorja Miller both scored tries, but it was Portia Woodman-Wickliffe’s night as the SVNS veteran ran in a decisive hat-trick which included a first-half brace.
After celebrating with her teammates, and doing their haka to commemorate the occasion, Woodman-Wickliffe joked that she “didn’t know I had it in me” to run away for those three tries.
But on a more serious note, this is an important win for a New Zealand side who are missing some genuine firepower through injury.
“We had the likes of Sarah Hirini go out this year with her knee, Stacey (Waaka), Kelly Brazier, but the fact that we’ve gone through some moments that have been really quite hard in the past in terms of the rugby game, coming fifth in Perth was a real eye-opener for us,” Woodman-Wickliffe told this website.
“But to come out here, we’ve got some really new girls, we took out all the excess stuff that didn’t need to be there and made the game simple: get the ball wide, create space and play from there.”
New Zealand were practically perfect during their run to the final. They finished with a stunning 101+ points differential in pool play before conceding just seven points across their quarter and semi-final victories.
But the women in black saved their best for last. The Black Ferns Sevens’ win in the SVNS Vancouver Cup final wasn’t just clinical, but their dominance was reminiscent of their unrivalled success last season.
Championing when it matters! 🏆
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is the @HSBC_Sport Player of the Final! 👏#HSBCSVNS | #HSBCSVNSPER pic.twitter.com/YScYi0nKJ8
— HSBC SVNS (@SVNSSeries) February 26, 2024
“Our game’s not perfect, we’ve got a long way to go,” Woodman-Wickliffe explained.
“Australia is always the pinnacle but France is such a massive side. They’re strong, they’re physical, they bring a different game that no one else does.
“Looking forward to the next tournament. We’ve got some girls that are coming back from injuries. It’s going to be exciting.
“But the ultimate is the Olympics at the end of this year so we want to be peaking towards that.”
Comments on RugbyPass
“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to comments