Argentina produced a superb second-half performance to beat New Zealand 36-12 in the HSBC Vancouver 2024 final, their third consecutive gold in Canada and their third in a row this season.

After a slow first half, Matías Osadczuk scored a hat-trick of tries to power away from New Zealand and once again display their dominance in the men’s SVNS 2024. A gold in Vancouver means their silver in Cape Town is the only blemish in Los Pumas Sevens season so far, their final win extending their current winning streak to 15 games.

In the bronze play-off, a strong second half for France in their 42-12 win over the USA secured their highest finish of the season and capped off a fine weekend in Vancouver.

Meanwhile, Great Britain took their best finish of the season, the bottom seed beating Samoa 19-14 in the seventh-place play-off, while Australia’s disappointing weekend was capped off with a 24-7 loss to South Africa in the showdown for ninth.

Osadczuk hat-trick seals gold medal

The All Blacks Sevens looked dangerous in the opening minutes scoring two tries in three minutes, but Argentina responded immediately as Marcos Moneta found space on the blindside to halve their deficit.

A few minutes of frenzied action followed as Argentina looked to find their way over, and after turning the ball over it was Luciano Gonzalez who drove low over the whitewash to get Los Pumas Sevens all square at the break.

The series leaders came out flying in the second half, creating a three-man overlap to walk a third score in and take the lead for the first time.

Argentina pounced on a loose ball and got it wide to Osadczuk who scored one for the highlight reel, finishing brilliantly in the corner to put some space between them and their opponents. Minutes later, Osadczuk added another to complete his hat-trick.

With a minute and a half to go, the game was all but decided. Matteo Graziano added one more with the clock in the red to hammer home their superiority in HSBC SVNS 2024 and at BC Place, where they are now 18 games unbeaten.

Route to the final: Argentina cruise to final as All Blacks Sevens hold off France

Argentina beat the USA by 35-19 in an assertive semi-final display to reach the final in Vancouver. They raced into a 14-0 lead, but they couldn’t contain Perry Baker in space as the US pulled one back.

Los Pumas Sevens pressure saw Matías Osadczuk crash over for Argentina’s third to lead 21-7 at the break, Tobias Wade adding a fourth and Augustin Fraga a fifth to all but put the South Americans out of sight.

Madison Hughes pulled two back for the US, but Argentina managed the clock effectively to reach their fourth consecutive final of the season.

In the other match-up, New Zealand held off a second-half French comeback to edge their semi-final by 28-26.

The first half ended two tries a piece but a missed conversion for France meant New Zealand took a slim two-point lead into the break, a lead that would prove decisive.

Akuila Rokolisoa and Scott Curry scored two more for New Zealand before France responded. Antoine Dupont was in the thick of the action as he made a break and ripped the ball from New Zealand hands to set up a runaway try for Rayan Rebbadj. Joseph Jefferson Lee scored their fourth in the dying moments, but it wasn’t enough to catch the men in black.

French flair undoes USA for bronze

A tightly contested first-half saw the US capitalise on a Dupont yellow card to score two tries, but France managed to match them before the break and took a 14-12 lead into half-time.

France kicked off the second half with a perfectly weighted pass from Jordan Sepho to send Esteban Capilla in at the corner, extending their lead to nine points.

And the rest of the second period was all France, a series of four tries capped off by a Dupont touchdown – the perfect ending to a tournament they’ll feel could have been theirs.