PERTH, AUSTRALIA — History was made in front of a sell-out crowd at the inaugural HSBC SVNS Perth as Ireland women claimed a first ever SVNS title and Argentina men won back-to-back events for the first time
History was made at in front of a sell-out crowd at the inaugural HSBC SVNS Perth as Ireland claimed a first ever rugby sevens victory on the world stage, overcoming hosts and current SVNS leaders Australia 19-14 in an epic women’s final at HBF Pack.
Ireland coach Alan Temple-Jones was left almost speechless: “Playing Australia in Australia is an unbelievable opportunity for the girls,” he said. “We’re extremely chuffed … lost for words. We’ve had a good focus these last two weeks. We had a lot to improve on after Dubai and Cape Town … unreal.”
Captain Lucy Mulhall said the win had been “a long time coming”. She added: “It means a lot and we’ve been on a long journey. This is massive for women’s Irish rugby; we’ll be sure to celebrate.”
Argentina continued their recent formidable form by thrashing Australia 31-5 in a one-sided men’s final to claim consecutive SVNS titles for the first time, following their win in Cape Town last time out.
“I don’t have words to describe how I’m feeling right now,” said captain Santiago Alvarez said. “I’m very happy, very proud of this team, these young men. Australia are a very tough team, we know them well, we’ve played them several times this year but we kept the focus on our process, our system. Can we keep it up? I don’t know. Today, we will celebrate. Tomorrow we will start talking about the next tournament.”
Great Britain women were impressive throughout the weekend and took the bronze medal thanks to a 24-10 win over USA, while Ireland’s men claimed bronze with a 24-7 win over double Olympic champions Fiji.
Despite defeat in Perth, Australia extended their lead at the top of the women’s SVNS standings to 12 points thanks to their quarter-final victory over arch-rivals New Zealand. Australia have 58 points after three rounds ahead of New Zealand on 46, France on 44 and Ireland with 38 points.
Argentina also extended their lead in the men’s SVNS title race, having claimed two gold and one silver from the three rounds so far they are top with 58 points and have opened a 14 point gap over Fiji and Australia behind them on 44 points.
