The joys for Argentine sport continue. After a 2022 that was crowned with the conquest of the World Cup in Qatar and a 2023 that began with the consecration of Kevin Benavides in the Dakar Rally, this Sunday, The Pumas 7s shouted champion of the Hamilton stage of the World Tour, after beating the All Blacks 7s by an electrifying 14-12 in their own New Zealand.
It is a high-impact triumph that the Argentine national team achieved, against the most iconic country in this sport and champion more times also in this seven-player modality. Also, Los Pumas 7s They came back from behind after trailing 12-0 at the end of the first half.
The celebration on the podium with the New Zealand women’s team, champion among women
In the complement, Argentina recovered and with tries by Santiago Álvarez and Marcos Moneta, converted by Santiago Vera Feld and Tobías Wade respectively, took the lead 14-12, achieving an advantage that would end up being definitive. There was suspense at the end because it seemed that Brady Rush had converted a try that gave the New Zealanders the victory, but they did not end up validating it due to a separation of his arm when grounding the ball.
With this conquest (the first on the World Tour this year and the fourth in all of history), the national cast climbed to third place in the world ranking with 59 points, four behind the leader New Zealand (63) and two behind the escort United States.
On their way to the title, Argentina qualified for the final round as second in Group D after defeating Spain (20-5) and Canada (29-14) and losing to South Africa (14-17). Then, in the quarterfinals, they beat Fiji 19-10, while in the semifinals they eliminated the United States by beating them 24-14.
