Argentina and New Zealand triumphant at new Hong Kong home
03/30/2025 09:22 AM
DAY THREE WRAP: New Zealand women and Argentina men claimed the HSBC Hong Kong Sevens titles to back up their victories in Vancouver last month and extend their leads in the HSBC SVNS 2025 standings
Argentina made it 16 games unbeaten as they edged out Olympic champions France to win their maiden Hong Kong SVNS crown and extend their lead at the top of the series table to 12 points, ahead of Fiji.
A fiercely contested first half ended 0-0, but when Santiago Alvarez crossed for Argentina and France's Liam Delamare was sin-binned, things looked rosy for this stylish Argentina team.
Marcos Moneta made the most of the extra space to pierce the six-man blue line and make it 12-0 and, although Gregoire Arfeuil scored for Les Bleus as the gong sounded for fulltime, the contest was complete.
'I got my debut here and last year I broke my fibula here before the Olympic Games," said player of the match Moneta.
"My parents decided to be here with me. These are the things I was thinking about at the anthem. It is the perfect day. It is such a historic tournament."
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Third-place play-off
Canada claimed their first podium place since Vancouver SVNS last season by beating France 21-17 in a third-place play-off cracker.
Hawa Tounkara scored for France but her cross-field pass was intercepted by Shaleya Valenzuela to tie it at 7-all.
Skipper Olivia Apps picked up the back of the scrum to strike for Canada before Alycia Christiaens nabbed her fourth of the weekend.
France moved 17-14 ahead when Lou Noel offloaded under pressure from Apps to Valentine Lothoz to score, but Sabrina Poulin had the final say, outpacing Tounkara to take bronze and 16 SVNS series points.
"We just wanted to put on a show after that New Zealand game," said Canada forward Carissa Norsten. "It's an honour to get to play here."
Semifinals
Seven tries without response propelled New Zealand to the Final as Canada were blown away by a dominant Black Ferns Sevens display.
Jazmin Felix-Hotham delivered a brace of tries, but much of New Zealand's play came from Jorja Miller's all-round ability.
She jackalled, ripped and ran at Canada, and scored a try too.
"We've been trying to find our flow after Vancouver," said Miller, who may feature in the XVs Women's World Cup in England this year.
"Canada are a tough team and we knew we'd need to bring our 'A' game."
Australia claimed their place in the showpiece match on Sunday with a 28-5 win over France in which Maddison Levi scored a hat-trick and set a new Hong Kong record of 12 tries in a single tournament.
Wily Lea Trollier gave France hope when they trailed 14-0.
Faced down by three in yellow after a ruck, she quickly saw there was no way up the short side and cut round the pack of bodies on the turf to find a gap to score.
Bridget Clarke quelled the rebellion before Levi's third score.
Play-offs
Fiji earned 12 series points to move above Great Britain into seventh place overall, thanks to a 19-7 win over a tired USA outfit in the fifth-place play-off.
The Americans looked unusually leaden-footed as Ilisapeci Delaiwau scored and, although Ariana Ramsey injected speed - and hope - to touch down for USA.
It wasn't long before Seseniele Donu picked up Kelerayani Luvu's overhead throw to make it 14-7.
Lovu's visionary looping pass helped create the final score, a Rogosau Adimereani try.
Japan turned in a six-try display to beat Brazil 32-14, claim seventh place in Hong Kong and guarantee they will be in the top eight for the finals weekend in Los Angeles.
Brazil scarcely showed in the Japan half in the first period as the smiling attacker Honoka Tsutsumi scored two to establish a 20-0 lead at the break.
Hana Nagata continued the narrative before Yasmim Soares broke Brazil's duck and the teams traded one more score apiece.
A deserved win for ever-improving Japan.
Spain had been limited to the 11th place play-off in the four previous rounds of the HSBC SVNS, so their match against China to grab ninth spot represented progress.
China prevailed 12-7 but had to respond to a Silvia Morales try and two late yellow cards to do so.
Their captain Wang Wanyu added to a Chen Ziying score for the decisive try.
Things did not start well for Great Britain in their play-off against Ireland.
Lauren Torley was sin-binned for a deliberate knockdown and while she was off, Hannah Clarke put the Irish ahead.
But Grace Crompton inspired a big swing in the play, scoring a hat-trick.
For all that, the pick of the scores was Isla Norman-Bell's second where she kicked on with her right, then booted the ball twice with her left and collected to score. Great Britain won 32-5.
Day Three results:
Men:
Cup Final:
Argentina 12-7 France
Third-place play-off:
Australia 22-21 Fiji
Fifth-place play-off:
New Zealand 24-5 Spain
Seventh-place play-off:
Great Britain 12-28 Ireland
Cup semifinals:
Fiji 17-24 France
Australia 7-31 Argentina
Ninth-place play-off:
Kenya 17-19 South Africa
Eleventh-place play-off:
USA 14-21 Uruguay
Women:
Cup Final:
New Zealand 26-19 Australia
Third-place play-off:
Canada 21-17 France
Fifth-place play-off:
USA 7-19 Fiji
Seventh-place play-off:
Japan 32-14 Brazil
Cup semifinals:
Australia 28-5 France
Canada 0-41 New Zealand
Ninth-place play-off:
Spain 7-12 China
Eleventh-place play-off:
Ireland 5-32 Great Britain
