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SVNS leaders Argentina bounce back with 33-point blitz against New Zealand
By Finn Morton
SVNS Series leaders Argentina may have silenced some doubters on Friday evening with a stunning 28-point win over New Zealand. The All Blacks Sevens scored first but it was all one-way traffic from there as the Argies piled on 33 unanswered points.
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After an injury to star player Marcos Moneta at the Hong Kong Sevens last month, Los Pumas Sevens struggled to regather their composure and find their flow. The Argentinians looked visibly frustrated and upset as they walked down the tunnel after each of their pool matches.
Argentina ended up missing the quarter-finals for the first time this season. It was an almighty shock considering the Pumas had qualified for the first four Cup finals of the 2023/24 season, which included three wins on the bounce in Cape Town, Perth and Vancouver.
About three weeks after their shortcomings in Hong Kong China, Argentina were slow out of the blocks in Singapore. James Turner scored a double as Australia ran away with a somewhat comfortable 26-19 win, and Argentina had New Zealand up next.
The All Blacks Sevens had won the Cup final in Hong Kong China and presented a mighty tough challenge on Friday evening. But Argentina, to their credit, were more than up for the fight as they ran away with a ruthless win over their southern hemisphere rivals.
“I think we played a little bit more physical,” Argentina’s Tobias Wade told RugbyPass. “I think we won that battle. With Australia, I think we didn’t.
“The contact and the physicality was a great issue in this game.
“Also, we tried to be calm… and believe in us. We tried to correct all those things and not anything else.”
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Regan Ware scored the opener for New Zealand in just the second minute, but Argentina took control not long after with Rodrigo Isgro and German Schulz both scoring doubles, and Tomas Elizalde also got on the scoresheet.
That result sees Argentina sit second in Pool A behind Australia, while New Zealand are third and Canada fourth. But with that win, Los Pumas Sevens practically have one hand on the inaugural SVNS Series regular season trophy which they can lock up this weekend.
Ireland are the only other side capable of winning the regular season crown, but with the men in green sitting eight points behind the Series frontrunners, it seems unthinkable that Argentina wouldn’t be able to secure the title they so rightly deserve.
“We try to put focus on our things, on the things that we can control,” Wade said when asked about the regular season title.
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“Of course, we know that, we see that possibility but we try to think of the next game, the next move of ourselves.
“Of course, we want to win it but it’s not our main objective.
“We’re always trying to grow and that’s what we are always seeing, to grow, and to be a better team.”
