Bordeaux Sevens: Moneta's Hat Trick for Pumas 7s, but Title Hopes Fade

The Argentine Pumas 7s team is playing for pride after their elimination from the Bordeaux Sevens title race. Following a tough loss to New Zealand in their first match of the day, the team faced Uruguay in the semi-final for 9th place, securing a 26-17 victory.

Marcos Moneta was once again a key player, delivering a standout performance with three tries. His efforts, along with another try from Luciano González, sealed the win against Uruguay. Moneta expressed his disappointment with the earlier loss, noting that one more try against New Zealand could have led to a match against South Africa for the title.

Moneta reached 199 career World Series points, leading the season and the Bordeaux stage in scoring. He focused on scoring tries in this match, guiding the team to victory after a shaky start. Although Uruguay managed a late comeback, it wasn't enough to overcome the deficit.

“

It's not what we wanted, but that's sevens. If we had scored one more try against New Zealand, we would have eliminated South Africa and been fighting for the title. Now we had to play this match against Uruguay, we are happy with the victory, and we have one more game left.

Reflecting on the season, Moneta acknowledged it was a good one despite a difficult start with a reshuffled team. He noted that the Pumas 7s showed promise early in the World Championship with second and third-place finishes but missed out on advancing from the group stage by small margins. "Sevens is like that. Every match counts," he stated.

Meanwhile, South Africa secured the season title for the second consecutive year by defeating Fiji in the quarterfinals and advancing to the semifinals. They will face the host nation, France, while New Zealand and Spain will compete for the other spot in the final.

“

It was a good season. We started off on the wrong foot, it was difficult with seven or eight new players and we had to rebuild the team. We started the World Championship well, with a second and a third place, and now we didn't get past the group stage by small details. Sevens is like that. Every match counts.