Blitzboks crash in Canada as Argentina stun Fiji to take Vancouver Sevens title

For the second week in a row the Blitzboks crashed out of a World Sevens Series tournament at the quarter-finals stage, this time in Vancouver.

Neil Powell’s men fell to Samoa after they’d topped their pool with wins over Spain, Canada and Australia, the side also losing out at the same stage the week before in Singapore.

There was also a shock in the Cup final in Vancouver, with Argentina stunning Fiji, the winners from Singapore.

The Blitzboks, who were defending champions in Canada, lost 28-17 to Samoa in the Cup quarter-finals on Sunday. They did later bounce back to claim fifth place overall with wins over France (36-7) and New Zealand (17-15).

In the Cup final, Argentina beat the Olympic champions Fiji 29-10 for their first title in the series since 2009.

Marcos Moneta and Felipe Del Mestre scored two tries each for Argentina in the triumph over a Fijian side coming off a victory in the Singapore Sevens a week earlier.

“You have to dream, because dreams do come,” said Argentinian coach Santiago Gomez Cora, who was playing the last time they won a Cup event on the circuit.

“Ever since I have been a coach this has been the moment I have been working towards, and my players must take all the credit because they work so hard and they wanted to win this one for their country so much.”

Despite the missing out on a last four finish – for the second time in two weeks – South Africa’s Blitzboks maintained their lead in the series after six rounds with 111 points.

Argentina jumped into second place on 105 points, and Australia are third on 100 points. The next tournament is in Toulouse, France between 20and 22 May.

With AFP.