And to think that in his last five tournaments he had failed to get past the quarterfinals. and what in New Zealand only twice had he reached the semifinals of a stage of the Seven’s World Tour. Now this cougars 7s that the season did not start well is finalist in Hamilton, iconic city of the most iconic rugby country. And it will define the contest, from 3.56 this Sunday in Buenos Aires (it will be broadcast by the Star+ platform), once morest All Blacks 7swhich can be intimidating due to history, shirt, locality and even the beating he gave to France in a semifinal: 38-0.
But Argentina has its own. In the quarterfinal round they beat Fiji very well, one of the strongholds on the World Tour: 19-10. And later, to the United States, with clear superiority: 24-14.
Boldness in attack, opportunism in the definition and a granite defense must have a team to overcome Fiji in seven. It is what he had this New Zealand Sunday morning cougars 7sby clearly defeating one of the best in the World Tour, who makes the difference with physicality and technical skills when his players pass the ball. And that on the last day of the Seven de Hamilton He had great support in the stands of the FMG stadium. The Argentine national team prevailed 19-10 the islanders in the quarterfinals and advanced to the semifinal that will face him with USA shortly following.
In it fourth tournament of the circuit, Argentina was among the top four in a stage for the first time this season. She competed as equals in the contact, but the story had started badly when Jeremiah Matana it was left alone at one point. Although Fiji is in a process of turnover, it has the largest pool of sevens players, by nature and by how they feel regarding rugby. But Pumas 7s did not lose focus, they had the ball and hurt.
The try of Luciano González vs. Fiji
In the first instance, via Augustine Fraga, a lethal finisher. The CUBA player ended a good play at one point, and equalized the goal of Santiago Vera Feld. In the last action of the first half, Marcos Moneta He was preparing to score, but his try was disallowed due to a previous forward pass.
In the second half, Pumas 7s did not give up prominence. Luciano Gonzalez He scored with pure power, a characteristic of La Rioja. Two minutes later came Moneta’s rematch, who was left in a two-on-two situation with plenty of room. The winger, who had just been the hero in the victory once morest Canada, played for the first time as a starter since his return and lived up to it. Argentina repositioned very quickly and did not allow Fiji to gain momentum in attacks. And Matana’s second try served only to decorate the final score.
Moneta’s conquest off Fiji
After losing to the quarterfinals in their last five tournaments, including the World Cup, those led by Santiago Gómez Cora finally overcame that barrier, and also that of the semifinals, which the Argentine team had reached in New Zealand only twice, in 2005 and 2009. In this case, they won by 24-14 over the United States, a rival that is far from the powers but usually hangs around good positions in the Circuit. In the last three matches Pumas 7s had won 42-24, 31-5 and 36-0. Now, in Hamilton, he was clearly superior. From beginning to end.
Luciano González broke the zero before the end of the first minute, breaking near the ruck. Two minutes from the break, Moneta drew one of his characteristic plays: a drag to the bottom, a race won from a rival and a try passing between the posts. After this excellent maneuver, something strange happened: the wing received a header from González during the celebration, which swelled the right insertion of the lower jaw. Santiago Vera Feld provided both conversions. And on the last play of the opening period Joe Schroeder approached for the United States: 14-7.
Moneta’s big play once morest the United States
The Argentine supremacy continued in the final half and tries of James Alvarez Fourcadewho returns to the selected team in this championship following almost a year of inactivity due to injury, and Matias Osadczuk they pushed away Pumas 7s to a 24-7 that seemed decisive. It was, because the discount of Perry Bakerprior to the conversion of Steve Tomasinit was late.
Now, Argentina is looking for its fourth consecration in a stage in the history of the World Tour, following those of Los Angeles 2004, San Diego 2009 and Vanvoucer 2022. It will face its 16th final, the 2nd in New Zealand (the rest took place in 2005 in Wellington.The most recent precedent once morest the New Zealanders is that of the last tournament, that of Cape Town, where New Zealand won 21-15.But in the previous one, in Dubai, Pumas 7s had won 31-28.In Therefore, the last final that faced both ended in success for the All Blacks 7s by 38-14, in Cape Town 2017.
Now, it is very possible that the UAR team does not have Agustín Fraga, who has been very important in the Hamilton Sevens.