Argentina’s rugby sevens team, which has already qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, will debut this Saturday in the London tournament, the 11th and final leg of the World Tour.
The team which includes Santiago Alvarez Fourcade from Bahia will face Japan from 6:45 am in Group B, which also includes Fiji and Ireland.
Argentina’s silver medal comes from being (runners-up) in Toulouse, where they lost the final against New Zealand 24–19. But most importantly, in that last leg, he qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Coach Santiago Gómez Cora will have the same squad as in the previous stage: Santiago Álvarez Fourcade, Tomás Elizalde, Agustín Fraga, Luciano González, Matteo Graziano, Rodrigo Isgros, Alejo Lavayan, Tomás Lizazu, Marcos Moneta, Joaquín Pelandini, Gaston Revol, German Schulz , Santiago Vera Feld and Tobias Wade.
At stake is a fourth and final spot, which will be decided by Australia (125), South Africa and Samoa, both 116 in the accumulated rankings.
Defending champions Australia will open their competition against Spain from London, while New Zealand will take on South Africa in the last match of the day on Saturday.
New Zealand returned to winning gold at the Sevens in Toulouse, France, defeating Los Pumas 7s 24–19.
The Argentine team of the season, second only to the New Zealanders, played in 16 finals in the history of the circuit, which have been held since 1999: they lost 12 and won four gold medals.
The ten tournaments played in the men’s series had five different winners: Australia, Samoa, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand.
New Zealand topped the list with 186 points, followed by Argentina (159), France (139), Fiji (138), Australia (125) and Samoa and South Africa (both with 116).
