In the final match of the day, with a playoff spot at stake, the Argentinians fell 19-14 to Great Britain, although they retained first place in their group.
In this way, Los Pumas 7's will play this Sunday, March 15th, at 13:50 Argentina time against South Africa for a place in the tournament final. It will be the second time this season that the national team has contested a semifinal for the Gold, a sign of the growth of a team that once again proved to be competitive in a major circuit event.
Buenos Aires, March 14 (NA) — Los Pumas 7's completed a solid first day at the New York Sevens, where they defeated Fiji 31-12 and Spain 27-26, before falling to Great Britain 19-14, a combination of results that nonetheless allowed them to finish first in Group B with 7 points and qualify for the Gold semifinals in the sixth stage of the World Circuit.
In their debut against Fiji, the team coached by Santiago Gómez Cora started strong and built a convincing victory with the imbalance created by Marcos Moneta, who scored a try after a great defensive play, plus a double from Santino Zangara.
In the second half, Luciano González Rizzoni also contributed, key in a play that ended again in a Moneta try, and Juan Patricio Batac, who sealed the Argentine victory.
Then came a much more difficult match against Spain: the European team escaped on the scoreboard during the first half, but Argentina reacted in the second half with tries from Santiago Vera Feld and Matteo Graziano, and turned it around late to secure a narrow 27-26 win that proved decisive for their classification.
