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Argentina have won Bronze in the Men’s Sevens at the Tokyo Olympics. Ignacio Mendy’s try four minutes into the second half sealed a 17-12 victory over Great Britain, with the Pumas defense again holding strong in the final minutes. Earlier in the day they were defeated by Fiji in a competitive Semi Final.
Fiji would go on to claim back-to-back Olympic Men’s titles with a dominant win over New Zealand in the Gold Medal Final. Their signature combination of pace and power were on full display with captain Jerry Tuwai leading the team to a perfect six wins from six games over three days.
While Santiago Álvarez added experience as captain, it was the youngsters who impressed for Los Pumas. Marcos Moneta led the team with six tries scored with Mendy and Lucio Cinti also playing starring roles. All three are just 21 years old. 22-year-old Rodrigo Isgro also earned a starting position.
The USA had high hopes heading into the tournament but settled for 6th spot. Two tries from Carlin Isles led the Eagles past Canada to earn a spot in the 5th Place Final. South Africa were clear winners, outscoring the Americans four tries to one.
Canada would close in 8th spot after two defeats on their final day. After falling to the USA in an exciting match to start Day Three, they were overwhelmed by Australia in their final match of the event. A 36-12 win over Japan in the pool stage would stand as the only win of the Games for the Canadians.
The Women’s Sevens is set to begin on Thursday in Japan, late Wednesday evening in the Americas.
KNOCKOUT RESULTS
9th PLACE SEMI FINALS
Ireland 31 – 0 South Korea
Kenya 21 – 7 Japan
GOLD MEDAL QUARTER FINALS
New Zealand 21 – 10 Canada
Great Britain 26 – 21 USA
South Africa 14 – 19 Argentina
Fiji 19 – 0 Australia
11th PLACE FINAL
South Korea 19 – 31 Japan
9th PLACE FINAL
Ireland 0 – 22 Kenya
5th PLACE SEMI FINALS
Canada 14 – 21 USA
South Africa 22 – 19 Australia
GOLD MEDAL SEMI FINALS
New Zealand 29 – 7 Great Britain
Argentina 14 – 26 Fiji
7th PLACE FINAL
Canada 7 – 26 Australia
5th PLACE FINAL
USA 7 – 28 South Africa
BRONZE MEDAL FINAL
Great Britain 12 – 17 Argentina
GOLD MEDAL FINAL
Fiji 27 – 12 New Zealand
FINAL RANKINGS
1 Fiji
2 New Zealand
3 Argentina
4 Great Britain
5 South Africa
6 USA
7 Australia
8 Canada
9 Kenya
10 Ireland
11 Japan
12 South Korea
