Hong Kong Sevens 2022: New Zealand fall short but still emerge as victors
- Trophies shared out to Argentina, All Blacks Sevens and Uruguay and they all look to the future
- ‘We have this trophy and it is very special, of course, and we have this moment, but we need more,’ says Argentine coach
One of the aspects that lifts the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens head and shoulders above its rivals on the circuit is that at this event some of the losers walk away winners anyway.
Consider the case of Uruguay, whose record was 1-2 in Pool B play, before they lost to Spain 19-14 on Sunday morning to go to 1-3.
Yet here they were as darkness descended on the Hong Kong Stadium lifting a shiny Shield having defeated Kenya 10-7 in the afternoon before rolling Japan 33-10 and with proud captain Diego Ardao beaming as though it was the World Cup. Well, maybe.
“This is unbelievable for us,” said Ardao. “Our first time in the Series and we already have one trophy. I didn’t even know I would have a trophy to lift to this is big surprise.”
Uruguay were happy just to make it to their first-ever Hong Kong Sevens as part of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series proper, so to win – albeit for coming 13th – was simply a bonus.
“This is my first time playing here as a core team and it is such a great experience,” said Ardao. “This has just been a great experience for us all and we’ll just keep going forward.”
