Hosts Australia’s sevens joy, despair; Eagles make Super Bowl; Tottenham beaten again
The historic decision to give the women centre stage in Perth was justified with a nail-biting victory for the hosts against their rivals
Home fans felt a mixture of celebration and despair at the Perth Sevens.
With both the men’s and women’s side reaching the final, the former were well beaten by Argentina before the latter clinched a thrilling victory to more than justify the new format.
For the first time, the women’s final was given centre stage – and, boy, was it a good decision.
First off, in the men’s semi-finals, Argentina demolished Spain 40-5 to set up a final showdown with the hosts, who earned their place with a tight 17-12 victory over South Africa.
But the final was one-way traffic as Las Pumas defended their Perth crown with a 41-5 triumph to become the third different tournament winner in as many rounds in a thrilling HSBC SVNS 2025 series. Spain beat South Africa 14-7 to win bronze.
But it was in the women’s section where the real drama happened: Australia earned their final berth with a 24-17 semi-final victory over Canada, with New Zealand’s 36-7 triumph over France ensuring a meeting of the two neighbours.
