ARGENTINA CROSS THE LINE AT LAST

They win first men’s SVNS league title after fifth place in S’pore; NZ women champions

- Deepanraj Ganesan

As British band Queen's celebratory rock classic We Are The Champions blared through the speakers of the National Stadium, Argentinian rugby sevens stalwart Gaston Revol was on his knees and euphoric.

Some of his teammates gathered in an emotional embrace around him, while others were sprawled out on the turf as they took in what they had achieved on May 5.

The Los Pumas Sevens had made history as they were crowned the men's SVNS league winners for the first time in its 25th edition.

Argentina rallied from a 10-0 deficit to beat South Africa 14-10 in the fifth-place play-off, securing the crucial points to finish top of the leaderboard. They racked up 106 points from seven tournaments, two points ahead of Ireland, who lost 17-14 to New Zealand in the final.

The HSBC SVNS is an annual series of international rugby sevens tournaments run by World Rugby and Argentina have been a core team since the event's debut in the 1999-2000 season.

Second place in 2022-23 was the closest they had come to winning the overall title.