Close to 4,000 rugby fans were in attendance on Day Two of the HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens to witness New Zealand clinch the trophy with their 19-17 win against Argentina in the final.

Pulsating match 

In a pulsating final match at the Singapore Sports Hub, Brady Rush scored the decisive try which gave the All Blacks Sevens the victory.

Said Dylan Collier, Captain, New Zealand, “It’s always a tough game against Argentina. They are an awesome team and they always push us right to the end. We’re just really lucky that we held strong and that our defence was awesome throughout the tournament. We managed to keep them out. Argentina really pushed us time and time again, but we never let up.”

All Blacks Sevens celebrated the winning by performing a Haka.

Kiwis seal their spot at Paris Olympics

This is the All Blacks Sevens first HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series title in Singapore since 2005.

Samoa’s semi-final loss to Argentina had meant that New Zealand had also already sealed their place at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games before taking to the field for their own semi-final game against Fiji, which the Kiwis had won 19-10. 

Said Dylan, “We definitely wanted to come out here and win, and we believed that qualifying for the Olympics would take care of itself. We really wanted to win the World Series this year and doing well for the past few weeks has definitely put us in good stead for that.”

The Kiwis are the first men’s team to book their Olympics berth other than hosts France.

The Singapore win also stretches New Zealand’s lead at the top of the Series table to 24 points. With a total of 42 points available in the final two weekends, the All Blacks Sevens will tie up the overall series title if they reach the Cup Final next month in France.

Fiji take Bronze 

Last year’s champions Fiji took home the bronze this time round, having recovered from going down 19-7 against Samoa, to win 24-19.

Samoa had beaten Fiji 28-7 on the first day of action and originally looked to repeat their feat and win a first Series bronze medal final.

But this was not to be, as tries from Fiji’s Iowane Teba and Joseva Talacolo brought the scores level, before Terio Veilawa scored his second try of the match to put Fiji in the lead, clinching victory for them. 

Australia finish fifth 

In the fifth place playoff, Australia emerged triumphant against Great Britain, ensuring they occupy the fourth Olympic qualification place with two tournaments left to go.

The Australians had lost in the Cup quarter finals to Argentina, but then bounced back and defeated Uruguay to book their spot in the fifth place match against the Brits.

Spain and USA finish ninth and 13th respectively

 In other news, Spain won the ninth place playoff 29-10 against Kenya and USA claimed the 13th spot with a 22-17 victory against Canada.  Their win stretches the USA’s winning streak against Canada to eight matches.

Another successful spectacle in Singapore

Said Doug Langley, Head of Sevens Competitions, World Rugby, “Singapore has built a reputation for spectacular entertainment, on and off the pitch, high quality hosting facilities and a fantastic party atmosphere around the venue, and this weekend’s HSBC Singapore Rugby Sevens has once again met our expectations.”

Indeed, the Singapore Sports Hub was full of vibrant energy that reverberated across the entire stadium, with fans singing and cheering their lungs out throughout the two days of action. It was definitely a hugely successful tournament to remember. 

Congratulations once again to New Zealand.