Ar-gen-tina! Pumas shock hosts New Zealand to take Rugby Sevens Hamilton round
Down 12-0, the Argentina men turn the tables on the All Blacks for their first victory of the 2022-23 World Series. The New Zealand women get the job done with a win over USA, going clear of Australia in the standings.
Rugby Sevens
Argentina erased a 12-point half-time deficit to produce a stunning 14-12 win in the men's final against hosts New Zealand in the latest round of the 2022-23 World Rugby Sevens Series on Sunday (22 January).
In Hamilton, the women's rugby competition was won by the Black Ferns who, with their 33-7 outclassing of USA, went top of the standings, four points clear of arch-rivals Australia.
The Pearls were tripped up by USA in the semi-finals 10-7 before settling for bronze by beating Ireland 33-17.
New Zealand were buoyant after their women deservedly lifted the trophy but came crashing back down to earth as the All Blacks Sevens suffered an unthinkable collapse.
Akuila Rokolisoa - the series' top points scorer who took his tally to 165 points - went over the line in the fourth minute for but the Kiwis blew the conversion, a miss that would prove costly in the end.
Roderick Solo touched down four minutes later to make it 12-0 at the lemon break but the story was only beginning.
Santiago Alvarez shaved the deficit for the Pumas with a ninth-minute try and Marcos Moneta equalised three minutes afterwards.
Tobias Wade, who had only come off the bench a minute earlier, nailed the conversion as the visitors had the last laugh and their first victory of the season.
USA, felled by Argentina 24-14 in the last four, beat France 15-14 in the bronze final.
New Zealand are still top of the table with 63 points, two points ahead of USA. Argentina (59) and South Africa (57) are in third and fourth place, respectively.
Behind the front two in the women's standings are USA in third and Ireland fourth.
The top four finishers at season's end automatically qualifying for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Hamilton is the fourth stop of the series for the men, third for women. The tour moves on to Sydney next weekend.