Mid-table takes over
DAY two of the HSBC Canada Sevens has taken its toll on the top teams. South Africa, Fiji and New Zealand, all in the top four in the world, all failed to survive the second day of the Vancouver tournament, the 200th HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event.
South Africa were knocked out in the group stage for the first time this season and failed to bounce back in their ninth place quarter-final against Kenya.
The Blitzboks had not experienced this situation since the end of the 2022 season (Toulouse in May, then Los Angeles in August). Third in the standings, they will now have to fight for 13th place.
The Pumas 7s also beat Fiji in the dying moments of their quarter-final thanks to a brace from the impressive Marcos Moneta. They will play their Cup semi-final against Ireland.
France, who were rescued at the last minute, proved that they have what it takes to compete with the world’s top four by beating Great Britain in a wellcontrolled second half. In 2019, after a disappointing tournament in Las Vegas, where they had finished in the bottom of the table, Les Bleus had finished with a silver medal around their neck a week later, already in Vancouver. Will Jérôme Daret’s men repeat the feat? In any case, they are well on track.
They will not have New Zealand in their way as they were eliminated from the Cup race by Australia, a first for this season. The second day of the tournament saw the mid-table teams rise to the occasion: France (7th), Australia (6th) and Ireland (9th).
Fiji, NZ knocked out of cup race
In the first quarter-final, France had two good opportunities to take the lead in the first half after Max McFarland opened the score for Great Britain: a short pass for Barraque and a weak run for Parez. Two points were quickly forgiven at the start of the second half with Paul Leraître finishing a try after an assist from the highly-valuable Theo Forner this weekend, both in defence and in attack, who scored twice shortly afterwards. An error on Barraque in the British 22 allowed the French to take advantage of their superiority to take out Great Britain (7-15) and qualify for the semi-finals against Australia.
The next match would see a major team fall, either Argentina or Fiji. Jerry Tuwai, a two-time Olympic gold medallist at Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, used his strong skills to open the score. The Pumas 7s quickly found the gaps, locked down the Fijian defence and created space for Matías Osadczuk and Marcos Moneta to run into. The same Moneta who missed a golden opportunity in the second half, letting Fiji back into the game. The key to the 14all scoreline was a late tackle that earned Fiji a yellow card and sent Moneta diving for a try to send his team into the last four (19-14) for the third time this season.
New Zealand, who have won back-to-back tournaments in Sydney and Los Angeles, began their quarter-final against Australia by conceding two first-half tries (Henry Paterson and Darby Lancaster), despite scoring a try from Ngarohi McGarveyBlack. But the All Blacks Sevens couldn’t find the strength to bounce back in the second half, leaving Australia to pile on the points with Paterson scoring twice. With injuries disrupting their progress in recent weeks, Australia produced a big performance to knock out the men in black in the quarter-finals (7-17), something that had never happened before this season.