Argentina fell to the Blitzboks but opened SVNS strongly | OneFootball

Los Pumas 7’s wrapped up their participation in the opening leg of the SVNS World Championship Series with a silver medal that confirms they remain among the elite, albeit with the bitter taste of another elusive final. On the iconic stage of Hong Kong, the team coached by Santiago Gómez Cora fell in the title match to South Africa by a convincing 35-7.

The final was dominated by the Africans from start to finish. Although Santiago Zangara managed to score an early equalizer, the Blitzboks imposed themselves with tries from Tristan Leyds, Ryan Oosthuizen, Shilton van Wyk, and a brace from Selvyn Davids. It was their second setback against the same opponent in the tournament, as Argentina had already suffered a heavy 38-0 defeat in the group stage following the sending-off of Lucas Arrieta.

Beyond the result in the final, the Argentines’ run once again showed an extremely high competitive level. The team opened with a 38-14 win over Spain and then comfortably beat Uruguay 40-19. The turning point came in the quarterfinals, where Argentina pulled off a major result by eliminating Fiji 24-17, taking advantage of a numerical edge after a yellow card for the Oceanian side to make the difference. In the semifinals, Gómez Cora’s men faced Spain again, securing a tight 19-12 victory that sent them through to the gold-medal match.

After this strong start to the season, the world circuit will now go into a break of just over a month. Los Pumas 7’s next stop will be in Valladolid, Spain, where the second leg of the tournament will take place from May 29 to 31

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.