The Pumas missed an unbeatable chance against the All Blacks and settled for the silver medal in Toulouse

A dream weekend, it was also going to be a dream Sunday Cougars. To the guaranteed ranking at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games -their third in a row- was added a silver medal in the Seven of another French city like Toulouseafter losing a very even result against the All Blacks (19-24) in extra time of the tenth legwhere they had an unbeatable lead and even options to win it in the end.

It wasn’t the best start for Los Pumas, who they had very early on strongly batted Canada to enter the game for gold-, in his party 100 history against the All Blacks. In the first minute, New Zeland broke in and reached the test for Reagan Ware under sticks, which also allowed the transformation for the 7-0.

But the response has been unbeatable for those driven by Santiago Gomez Corabecause after a retake, Luciano Gonzalez gathered signs with sheer power, Rodrigo Sgro built and German Schultz leaned very close to the ‘H’ to allow for draw at 7.

Rokolisoa’s yellow card gave Los Pumas a vital lead, who didn’t waste it to overturn the result with a solitary run of Agostino Fraga up to the goal

And in the last play of the first half, the Albiceleste goal appeared Mark Monetawho intercepted a pass in a lead attack for the All Blacks and only went to touch the icing to extend the lead.

New Zealand reacted at the start of the plug-in with a long run from Rokolisoa -the top scorer of the whole season-, who, through a conversion, left the gap to just five points.

With three minutes to go, the All Blacks struck again on the right wing: the speed of Roderick Solo It was a lot for the faster Argentinian (Marcos Moneta) who allowed the score to level at 19 and left the finish wide open.

There were two key mistakes for Los Pumas: first a forward as a child by Sgro in the last play of regular time and then the start of extra time – Albiceleste had won the tie -, which also had the merit of New Zealand to recover the ball and play the action that ended with the test of the title, once again the work of Solo.

Argentina, as happened recently in the final in Singapore, pushed New Zealand to the limit, who confirmed their dominance as champion of the season, with the last chapter missing next week in London. The other good? The Pumas turned in their best performance ever on a world circuit, securing second place.