New Zealand Women & Argentina Men Claim Vancouver Sevens 2023 Rugby Gold

rugbyasia247 Posted On March 6, 2023

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New Zealand and Argentina are the gold medal winners on day three of the HSBC Canada Sevens at BC Place Stadium on 5 March, 2023 in Vancouver, Canada

Another round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and more upsets over the weekend, as New Zealand women and Argentina men secured the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series Cup Finals in Vancouver at BC Place Stadium for the Canada 7s 2023.

Feature Photo Credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby.

The victory over the French for Los Pumas Sevens marked their second cup title of the current season, and back-to-back at BC Place after winning the event in 2022 as well. The Argentina men are now second on the Series ladder behind NZ.

New Zealand Black Ferns avenged the 2022 loss at the hands of Australia at the HSBC Canada Sevens tournament, and the team has now won four consecutive tournaments this season and have built a lead over Australia at the top of the standings.

The results over the weekend also mean that the NZ Women’s 7s team have qualified for Paris Olympics 2024, joining France, who automatically qualify as hosts.

It was the Black Ferns’ 24th win in a row and their last defeat came in the first round in Dubai in December 2022.

New Zealand Black Ferns captain Sarah Hirini said: “Qualifying for Paris 2024 was our goal for the season but to do that to early is kind of nice. Our coaches let us celebrate when we found out, but it was about winning the tournament and seeing if we can finish the season off. We were pretty gutted we didn’t take the World Series home last year and we want to take that home now.”

New Zealand Women 7s Rugby officially qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics

New Zealand is officially qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics on day three of the HSBC Canada Sevens at BC Place Stadium on 5 March, 2023 in Vancouver, Canada. Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby

On a dramatic final day in Vancouver, USA women and Australian men claimed the bronze medals, while the Japanese men finished 14th and the Sakura 7s Japanese women ended in 9th place.

Uruguay also followed up their shock win over SA in LA by beating Fiji in Canada over the weekend. South Africa was knocked out in the group stage for the first time this season and has dropped to tied 7th in the ladder.

The men’s and women’s teams will be on a break for three weeks before meeting at the end of the month for back-to-back HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023 in Asia, starting in Hong Kong on 31 March to 1 April and then Singapore the following weekend.