Los Pumas 7s defeated France 12-7 on Sunday and were crowned champions of the Hong Kong Sevens, the fifth event of the World Rugby Sevens Series for the 2024-2025 season. With this new achievement, the Argentine team reached their third consecutive gold medal after previously triumphing in the stages of Vancouver (Canada) and Perth (Australia), thus adding the 12th title in their history in this competition.
Under the direction of Santiago Gómez Cora, the Argentine team set the pace of the match from the start, betting on an offensive strategy and territorial pressure against the French team. During the first half, Joaquín Pellandini managed to support in the opponent's in-goal, but referee Ben Connor disallowed the try. Shortly after, a defensive intervention by Marcos Moneta prevented France from opening the score, keeping it 0-0 until halftime.
In the second half, Santiago Álvarez opened the scoring with a powerful play near the in-goal. Minutes later, Moneta took the ball after a scrum in the middle of the field, surpassed the entire defense, and scored under the posts with a spectacular run. With Pellandini's conversion, the lead extended to 12-0. Towards the end, France managed to narrow the gap with a try by Gregoire Arfeuil, although it wasn't enough to turn the result around.
The road to the final:
The participation of Los Pumas began with victories against Ireland (35-7), the United States (52-5), and Fiji (35-7) in the group stage. In the quarterfinals for the gold, they faced the Irish again and ended up advancing with a tighter result (22-14). The next day, in the semifinals, they faced Australia, comfortably winning 31-7, and hours later they won the final against France by a hard-fought 12-7.
