Heartbreak for Samoa as Australia clinch last automatic Paris 2024 men's rugby berth at London Sevens 2023
Samoa went down in the semi-finals to eventual winners Argentina with Australia securing fifth place in the World Sevens Series standings and direct Olympic qualification.
Rugby Sevens
Australia have claimed the last automatic spot for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in men's rugby sevens on offer at the 2023 World Sevens Series.
They confirmed their qualification by beating Great Britain 34-5 in the London Sevens seventh-place playoff at Twickenham to secure fifth place in the 2022/2023 series standings.
Australia join Fiji, Argentina, and series champions New Zealand as the four automatic qualifiers from this season's world series, with France also guaranteed a spot at Paris 2024 as hosts.
Samoa missed out on Olympic qualification by the narrowest of margins at the end of the 2022/23 campaign. They could still qualify for Paris via regional qualifying or the final repechage tournament.
They did come away from South West London with the consolation of third place after beating New Zealand 24-19. With the scores level and time up, Samoa somehow stole the ball with Taunuu Niulevaea running down the touchline to seal the win.
Argentina defeated Fiji 35-14 in the final which meant the reigning Olympic champions ended the campaign without a tournament win for the first time since 2010-11.
Fiji went into an early lead, but a red card for a dangerous tackle by Josese Batirerega proved decisive as the Pumas romped to a third title of the season.
Rodrigo Isgro and Marcos Moneta scored two tries apiece with Moneta taking his World Sevens Series tally to 100 in just 20 tournaments.
Australia do enough, Samoa miss out
Starting the weekend nine points clear of nearest rivals Samoa, the Aussies could have sealed qualification by beating Fiji in the quarter-finals.
The two-time reigning Olympic champions had other ideas, winning 19-5 to leave the door open for their fellow Pacific Islanders.
Samoa needed to at least reach the final to have realistic hope of denying Australia that Paris ticket.
They made the last four with a 12-5 victory over Great Britain thanks to two tries from the tournament's leading scorer Vaa Apelu Maliko.
And after Australia had gone down 22-19 to France in their fifth-place semi-final, a win over Argentina in the semi-finals would have seen Samoa through to their first Olympic Games.
They took the lead when Taunuu Niulevaea went over by the posts and, at the last second, passed to Maliko who touched down for his 50th try of the series.
Argentina replied through German Schulz but a missed conversion left them behind, and they then had Rodrigo Isgro yellow-carded just before half time.
Samoa, coached by legendary back Brian Lima, failed to take advantage and spent most of the second half camped inside their own 22.
And just two minutes from time, Santiago Alvarez went over to give the Pumas a 10-7 victory to take qualification out of Samoa's hands.
Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 gold medallists Fiji stunned series winners New Zealand 19-17 in a thrilling second semi-final.
The All Blacks Sevens went into a quick 12-0 lead, but the two-time reigning Olympic champions fought back with Viwa Naduvalo's late try completing the comeback.
2023 London Sevens quarter-final rundown
Argentina were the first team through on Sunday, beating Ireland 28-14 to avenge their defeat late on Saturday.
Their semi-final opponents would be Samoa who beat Great Britain 12-5 thanks to two tries from Vaa Apelu Maliko.
Fiji, seeking to avoid their first winless World Sevens Series since 2010-11, beat Australia 19-5.
Series winners New Zealand were made to work hard in their quarter-final, holding off the French 19-17.
There was controversy at the end as Thomas Carol was timed out before attempting what would have been a match-tying conversion.