Australia loses both of its rugby sevens finals in Perth in the World Rugby Sevens Series.
Argentina, who were competing in their sixth consecutive final, destroyed the men 31–5, while the women were defeated 19–14 by Ireland.
For the first time since Sydney in 2018, both Australian teams were aiming to triumph on home ground. Australia enjoyed a fantastic weekend despite the final defeats at a sold-out HBF Park.
On the points differential, the men moved up from sixth to third place, trailing only Fiji, while the women extended their lead at the top of the ladder from six to twelve points. However, they trail the unbeaten leaders, Argentina, by 14 points.
Ireland, who had lost 29 successive games against Australia, came back to break a 14–14 tie after the ladies had taken a 5-0 lead early on. Eve Higgins buried the line for the go-ahead attempt with one and a half minutes remaining.
While Charlotte Caslick, the captain of Australia, scored the first try, the team’s dismal discipline record for the tournament continued when she was given a yellow card later in the half.
Teagan Levi, the sibling who provided a try and two conversions, was sent off, but Maddison Levi was eligible for the championship game. The tournament’s standout player, Bienne Terita, hurt her leg early in Sunday’s 24-7 victory over the United States in the semi-finals.
Australian player Sharni Smale told Stan Sport, “We are really proud of this young bunch, but we have faced a lot of adversity this weekend.” Out of the twelve teams, Ireland was ranked seventh going into the competition and had never won a series finale.With a 24–10 victory against the US, Great Britain took home the bronze medal.
Until Matthew Gonzalez crossed in the last seconds of the men’s match, Australia barely troubled the Argentina line. It’s difficult to win when you don’t have the ballyhoo, Australia captain Nick Malouf said to Stan Sport. “They just completely starved us of possession.”
Despite losing two of their three pool matches and only managing to qualify for the quarterfinals as one of the top third-placed teams, the Australians’ performance was nonetheless impressive.
Fiji, which lost 24-7 to Ireland and ended fourth in the competition, was defeated 22-7 in the semi-finals. When Australian Nathan Lawson received a yellow card for a controversial intentional knockdown call in the third minute, the match took a turn for the worse.
Only a few seconds later, Argentina took full use of their numerical advantage when Marcos Moneta, scoring his ninth try of the tournament, raced 55 meters after collecting a ball from a scrum.
In barely one minute of the second half, German Schulz gave Argentina their second try. Moneta scored a second try and Matteo Graziano crossed twice as the series leaders proved why they are the best team in the league.