LONDON, ENGLAND — Argentina won their third gold medal of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023, beating Fiji 35-14 in the Cup final at the Twickenham Stadium on Sunday, while New Zealand lifted their 14th Series title, Australia qualified for Paris 2024 and Canada defeated Kenya to retain core status next season.
The HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023 came to a thrilling conclusion on Saturday at the Twickenham Stadium with Argentina defeating Fiji to claim their third Cup title of the season, New Zealand being crowned 2023 Series champions, Australia claiming the final Paris 2024 Olympic Games spot and Canada retaining core status with a passionate victory over Kenya in the 2024 Series Play-off.
In the Cup final, Fiji opened the scoring but lost Josese Batirerega to a second-minute red card and the South Americans took full advantage to round off their most successful season in style, winning 35-14.
Samoa had not won a bronze final in their previous 10 attempts, stretching back almost a decade, but they recovered from falling 14-0 down to the All Blacks Sevens to win a nail-biting match 24-19.
Earlier on Sunday, Australia secured qualification for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, for the first time via the Series, winning the seventh-place play-off against Great Britain to wrap up fifth place in the standings.
Canada, meanwhile, confirmed their core status for next season by winning the World Rugby Sevens Series 2024 Play-off, edging a tense decider 12-7 against Kenya at Twickenham.
“It feels great, it feels like that’s where we’re supposed to be,” Canada captain Phil Berna said.
“We’ve been building towards this in the latter half of the season, and it all came together today. It was awesome.”
With the Series concluded, participating teams present in London will attend the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Awards in the evening to recognise and celebrate the achievements of those involved in the 2023 competition.
World Rugby Media Release
Photo Credit: World Rugby
