What promised to be a night of celebration has been cooled somewhat after Australia’s men’s and women’s sevens teams were beaten in their respective Perth Sevens finals.
After both national sides made the final for the first time on home soil since 2018, a tournament they swept to historic titles in Sydney, the women’s side were shocked 19-14 by Ireland before Argentina swept away the men 31-5 less than an hour later on Sunday night.
It was Ireland’s first World Series victory, while Argentina reaffirmed their status as Olympic gold favourites by delivering their dominant performance.
It was the second straight tournament Argentina beat the men in gold in a final, with the South Americans smashing Australia 45-12 in Cape Town last month.
A controversial early yellow card to Nathan Lawson hurt Australia’s chances, as the forward was punished for having a pass make contact with his arm in the process of making a tackle.
With a numerical advantage, Argentina found one of the fastest players on the circuit in Marcos Moneta, who ran the 100 metres in 10.1 seconds in 2018, who sprinted away to score.
Australia would have thought they were a chance at half-time as they went into the break trailing just 7-0, but that didn’t last long as Argentina scored four tries in five minutes.
John Manenti’s side hit back with a late try to get on the scoreboard through Matthew Gonzalez, but it was crystal clear who was the superior side.
Asked what went wrong, captain Nick Malouf, who returned to form throughout the knockout stages as the home side smashed the United States of America and Fiji on their way to the final, the former Leicester and Waratahs winger said they needed to somehow learn to win the ball when play went against them.
“Touch the ball would be a nice start,” he said.
“(We) defended pretty much the whole game. You saw at the end there, we put two or three phases together and we got over the whitewash. They completely starved us of possession. It’s tough to win when you don’t have the footy.
“Sevens minutes can go really quick, a blink of the eye. They had the footy, kept the footy, we never touched it, and they piled the points on and we couldn’t keep them out.”
It was Argentina’s sixth straight cup final and saw them extend their lead at the top of the World Series standings on 58 points – 14 points clear of second place Fiji and a further two over Australia.
Meanwhile, Tim Walsh’s side suffered their first cup final loss of the year after being outclassed by a gritty Irish side.
Missing strike weapons Maddison Levi (suspension) and Bienne Terita, Australia were forced to defend for much of the match and missed their imposing and main two strike weapons.
Little went right for Australia, including the opening kick restart by Teagan Levi in her first match from a three-game ban, despite Charlotte Caslick opening the scoring.
The home side were forced to defend for much of the first half, which included Caslick being shown a yellow card for a deliberate knockdown in the process of a tackle.
Ireland celebrate defeating Australia to claim their maiden World Series tournament at HBF Park on January 28, 2024 in Perth. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)
Ireland took a 14-7 lead into the half-time break after tries to Amee Leigh Murphy Crowe and captain Lucy Mulhall.
Levi levelled up the score a 14-14 when she burst onto a neat Caslick ball, but Eve Higgins broke the home side’s hearts by crossing out wide.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Mulhall said.
“A few of us are 10-11 years waiting for this one, but it means a lot. I think especially this group, we’re so tight off the field and we’ve been on a long journey.
“This is massive for Irish sevens and women’s rugby in Ireland.”
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
I reckon if Monty Python did a skit on that, they would have a game where there were no players left on the field.
piru
Roar Rookie
To me against France they looked restrained, like they were trying to play to a plan, rather than just having a go. When they did have a go they looked good, but it was too late by then
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Coldplay filled it :happy:
Muzzo
Roar Rookie
Yep, we were disappointing piru, & actually should've done better , even without those seven top liner players out with injury.
Aurelio Silvestroni
Roar Rookie
Anibal, I understand how proud you are of Los Pumas 7s' team. I understand it as an Argentinian I am. However, it is annoying (as an Argentinian, too) to read the self centered and ombliguista attitude, that typically most Argentinians display abroad. Be more humble, please. Stop feeding that arrogant characteristic so well attributed to all our people. We are NOT the best of the world, in nothing. We have great people, great teams, great scientists, etc etc etc. With that, I can live, but not with the "best" label. We need to stop that thing.
Anibal Pyro
Roar Rookie
Yes, evening/night tournament, as in HK or Singapur. Best for players, fans and the show
Anibal Pyro
Roar Rookie
Dressing not... but singing chanting and supporting the boys, we Argies are perhaps the best fans
#8
Roar Rookie
Bliksem some great ideas. I'd have to disagree about move to Optus though, I love the place but it's too big and you will lose the atmosphere. Test cricket has suffered there, I'd much prefer going to the WACCA where the atmosphere was more than half the fun. The lack of shade at HBF is a problem though so moving the games until later would be better. Maybe our great premier needs to upgrade the west stand to mirror the east stand which would help! I'd have to say the blokes in the flamingo hats and/or the Barbies and Kens in their pink boxes were the best dressed. Unfortunately, the Saffa's and Kiwi's (I'm one by the way) in their Bok's and AB jumpers were the worst dressed. My bunch of Kiwi's are already planning for a much better showing next year. The award for the most passionate supporters was close run thing between the Fijians, Irish and Argies. Great to see the passion, joy and most of the all the friendliness between all the different fans........that's before I mentioned the cricket result to Aussies next to me :)
K.F.T.D.
Roar Rookie
That was over two days I think. Lots of music, food , beer halls. They also ran a concurrent Netball tournaments in like a fast format.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
Pretty harsh for the men. Argentina is a very good side and was the stand-out team during the tournament. Women just want to do it the hard way with 6 vs 7.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
As long as they don't know what we know.... don't you mention Shark Bay, Esperance or Ningaloo Reef.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
Crowds were good for a first tournament. Friday the first day crowds are normally low but could have been more if it finished later like on Saturday night. It was very hot in the sun on Saturday in the day, but the evening was very pleasant, and Sunday was very good but finished a little bit too early - a finish around 8pm would have worked better from a crowd's perspective. It as a huge success and something we can build on next year, but not enough yet to book Optus.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
Will not beat Dubai if we stay at nib. Might get there is we play at Optus but then we need to be able to get 50,000+ per game. Will not be easy.
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
If you can fill Optus, move it to Optus in my view. Just not play in a half empty stadium... I think we have the potential to fill Optus but not next year.
piru
Roar Rookie
Personally I don't know if we need the Stones / Queen impersonators, though the bloke dressed as Keith was spot on. Mick looked more like Ozzy to me
Bliksem
Roar Rookie
Argentina's men were a class above any of the other 7s-teams this weekend. The best game of the tournament for me was Fiji vs Blitzboks on Saturday evening as the crowd got excited and involved. The poor discipline of Australia's women is a serious issue; they either have to adjust e.g. by lowering tackle heights or concede cards and learn to play with 6. There is a lot for the coach to reflect on the same errors are made by the same players. It is most important to reflect that Perth was AGAIN a success story for Australian rugby. The Australian teams performed, and most importantly the stadium SOLD OUT (again). There are a couple of things that I think we can improve on next year. - The crowd dressed up better than any other sevens tournament I attended. We need to find a way to reward this effort - such as a price for the best dressed for the day. - The Australian Day weekend was a good weekend for such a tournament in Perth. Many spectators came in from the regions and elsewhere in Australia for the weekend just to attend. - There is potential to grow spectators to a level where we can fill Optus. Optus has much better facilities to host such a tournament than nib stadium and we should plan to move to Optus as soon as we can. - Although NIB is adequate for now, it offers very little shade on 40+°C January days. We will not always get such a mild Australian Day weekend than this year. We can schedule game to start later and play until later in the night like you did on Saturday when games finished at 10 pm. To have the sun set over Perth followed by the Australian Day fireworks going off in the background on Friday night just add to the spectacle - this you can only get from nib. - Let people book a seat in a seating block and pick a seat on a first-come-first-serve basis. Very few sat in their assigned seats anyway, so I cannot see what the problem would be to encourage spectators to come in earlier to pick a good seat. The more time people spend at the stadium the more they will spend on beer, food etc. - The entertainment (DJs) should learn from other tournaments on how to involve the crowd. They were not bad, however if they like the crowd to sing-along, at least play a song that most in the crowd know the words for AND put the words on the screen. This was a great first sevens tournament in Perth and I trust that we can grow from this very good start.
piru
Roar Rookie
No, HBF was perfect - would lose something at Optus I think
Perthstayer
Roar Rookie
Hope they don't try Optus next year.
piru
Roar Rookie
Unfortunately the upcoming bit on Rugbyheaven is going to be an ever bigger advertisement. Keep your eyes peeled for Piru Jr running drills on Scarborough Beach
piru
Roar Rookie
They were downright superheroes compared to NZ