Australia has made history in the rugby sevens.
After beating Samoa 21-7 in the 2022 HSBC Los Angeles Sevens bronze-medal match, Australia leapfrogged South Africa in the 2021-22 series standings to win the title. It marked the nation’s first ever season series win after previously finishing second in the 2000-01 campaign.
But there was still one match to go: the cup final between Fiji and New Zealand.
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It is the biggest rivalry in rugby sevens considering each team’s respective history, so Sunday’s final only added to their long line of battles.
Fiji started the scoring thanks to Kaminieli Rasaku in the second minute, and it was a back-and-forth affair from there.
In the end, Kurt Baker’s last-minute try for the All Blacks sealed the deal as they won their first tournament of the 2021-22 series (they missed the first four due to COVID-19).
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The Flying Fijians took home the silver medal from the cup and bronze from the entire 2021-22 season despite missing one tournament due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Australia claimed the bronze medal from Los Angeles as aforementioned, while South Africa finished second in the season. Here’s how the standings for the 2021-22 season panned out:
2021-22 Series
1st – Australia (gold)
2nd – South Africa (silver)
3rd – Fiji (bronze)
4th – Argentina
5th – Ireland
6th – USA
7th – France
8th – New Zealand
9th – Samoa
10th – England
11th – Spain
12th – Kenya
13th – Scotland
14th – Canada
15th – Wales
16th – Japan
The 2022-23 season will begin with the Hong Kong Sevens from Nov. 4-6.