The new season of the Men’s Rugby Sevens World Championships resumes on behalf of Australia, who beat Fiji in the final in Hong Kong. France III ahead of Samoa. All Blacks and Team GB disappoint.
Nathan Lawson, author of The Goal that led Australia to victory in the first stage of the World Rugby Sevens (PhD in World Rugby)
The 2022-2023 Men’s World Rugby Sevens Championship will resume on behalf of Australia. The Wallabies, the defending champions, won the first stage held in Hong Kong this weekend. In the final they played with Fiji, the world champion, and scored the decisive goal at the end of a match that was played with very high strength.
Read also: The 2023 World Sevens Championships at the starting line: the goal of the Olympic Games
The race to win the first gold in the 2022/2023 series saw the Fijians take the lead with Fakurinabele after just a minute, then go 12-0 at 4′ thanks to the usual massive Nacuqu. At the end of the first part, Hutchison cuts to 12-5, but the challenge seems to be under the control of the winners of the RWC 7s.
At the start of the second half, Australia tries to change the pace, with Clements stopping a break, wrapping up a stunning choral action; Not even time to breathe and the islanders stretch again, again with Nacuqu. The Australians don’t give up and at 12′ Hutchison found a 17-15 goal. Gold is then played on the last move: Longbottom and Dumbar snatch the oval from the Fijians at 22, then open on Lawson who smashes the flag and signs the overshoot with less than 30 sirens.
Read also: Australia wins the 2022 Men’s Championship and goes into the history of the Sevens
France is third on the podium, and here too at the end of a difficult match with Samoa, determined only by greater accuracy at the foot of the Alps. Grandidier’s goal, worthy of the decisive advantage for the French, is the Sevens textbook, with a ride of more than 50 meters on the exit line.
In fifth place, Argentina, which has a better than decidedly defeated South Africa and overshadows the United States, closes in, having been overtaken by the Samoans in the quarter-finals. Seventh is Ireland, which pays for its meeting with the Australians in the first knockout match.
Read also: England, Scotland and Wales launched GB
While Australia and Fiji have proven to be the top two teams, the hottest disappointment comes from the All Blacks. The New Zealanders, in fact, do not make it through the group stage, having lost to Australia 7 and Samoa, and should be angrily satisfied with their ninth place.
GB’s team has been bad too, making its official debut in the series after a post-Olympic trial at the start of last season. Even the British did not skip the pools, despite their small victory over South Africa, after their 34-0 defeat by France and also bypassed by the new player Uruguay, who achieved his first success after only three races between the main teams. from the series.
2022 World Sevens Championship – Hong Kong
groups
- Group A: Samoa 9, Australia 7, New Zealand 5, Hong Kong 3
- Group B: France 9, South Africa 5, Great Britain 5, Uruguay 5
- Group C: Fiji 9, USA 7, Spain 5, Japan 3
- Group D: Ireland 9, Argentina 7, Kenya 5, Canada 3
Quarter-finals
Samoa vs Argentina 19-14
Fiji vs South Africa 7-12
Australia vs Ireland 26-19
France vs the United States 14-28
Semi-finals
Fiji vs Samoa 7-19
Australia vs France 10-7
finals
Bronze: France vs Samoa 19-17
Gold: Australia vs Fiji 20-17
The standings after the first round: Australia 22, Fiji 19, France 17, Samoa 15, Argentina 13, USA 12, Ireland and South Africa 10.
Francesco Raciero
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