There are many reasons why Los Pumas are the best in the world at rugby sevens and candidates for Olympic gold at Paris 2024

THE Puma 7 I’ve been passing through for some time a path of constant improvement. This Sunday they won the Vancouver Sevens for the third time in a row, which at the same time was their third consecutive victory in the 2024 season of the world circuit of the specialty. Thus they ratified the great present of a team that is pure strength and which, by dint of triumphs and good plays, became the best Argentine team, surpassing the football team led by Lionel Messiand is increasingly a candidate to win the gold medal in Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

The numbers confirm this statement. Four dates have been played this season. The Argentines have played in all the finals and have accumulated seven in a row, counting last season’s.

In those four decisive duels they scored 119 points and received only 41. In none of them was the score higher than 12. They only stumbled in the first, in Dubai, in early December last year, when they lost to South Africa. A week later they climbed to the top of the podium in Cape Town, beating Australia. And they started 2024 with a bang, with celebrations at the end of January in Perth against the hosts and in Vancouver against New Zealand on Sunday.

By beating the United States in the semifinals in the Canadian city, they reached 17 consecutive matches without defeat in the same competition and broke South Africa’s record (16 between 2021 and 2022). And with the victory against the New Zealanders, they brought the number of consecutive victories in the circuit to 15, improving what they had established in 2004, with their coach Santiago Gomez Cora even as a player.

With the number of medals won this season, they have accumulated 9 gold, 16 silver and 21 bronze in their history on the circuit. And they lead the table with 78 points, 24 more than their second team: Ireland and Fiji.

This huge moment is the result of years of work by a team that has good play, mentality and personality bank and reverse difficult times. She proved it once again in the final against All blackin which they came back from 0-12 to win 36-12.

“In the face of new adversities, the team was able to carry on with games with little rugby but with a lot of love for themselves. This drop in performance is also part of a championship and the path of a group. The good thing is that giving everything is non-negotiable; delivery is always valid“, commented Gómez Cora after the victory.

“This speaks to the guys’ temperance to not despair. Because the opponent plays great, New Zealand was in the final for a reason. You had to be patient. Some time ago we got the desperation to go and look for it or frustration it would seem. Now they never look up to see the score or the time“, he analyzed in a conversation with Scrum.com.

One of the great qualities of this team is that it shines beyond its proper names. It doesn’t matter if whoever takes the field is Matías Osadczukcaptain until last year, Marco Moneta AND Rodrigo Isgro, probably the best known faces of the team; OR Santiago Alvarez Fourcadewho put the ribbon, Luciano Gonzalez Rizzoni OR Tobias Wadetwo who, together with Osadczuk, were part of the ideal team for the final in Vancouver.

“As a team we are in a place where whoever comes in gives everything and does it better than before. We are working very well. It is difficult to express in words what we are experiencing. It has been many years of work” analyzed Álvarez Fourcarde.

González, author of a Attempt in the duel against the New Zealanders (the others were Moneta, Osadczuk (3) and Matteo Graziano), he assured: “This team is already a family. Entering a field and enjoying how we are enjoying it and seeing the results arrive is a treat for the soul. “We are happy for this and for having given joy to the Argentines.”

The Pumas 7’s great season is no surprise. Yes, it’s a confirmation that the team doesn’t stop growing. After winning gold at the Pan American Games in Lima 2019 and the Olympic bronze Tokyo 2020they made a leap in quality in the 2021/22 season of the circuit, in which they finished fourth with five medals and They ended a thirteen-year titleless drought.

In 2022/23 they raised the bar. They won in Hamilton, Vancouver and London, and took silver in Los Angeles, Singapore and Toulouse, finishing second behind New Zealand. This is how they secured their place for the Olympic event Paris 2024which they will arrive at (except for some big surprises) like the top favourites. And in the current season, which began shortly after reconfirming the Pan American title in Santiago de Chile, they have quickly become the main protagonists.

What is the secret of this evolution? Perhaps the constant search to continue to improve.

“The ambition is always to improve every day. We never had the goal of winning or looking for a result. We propose game actions and there are still actions to work on. We still have a lot to correct,” commented Gómez Cora when asked about the cap of the team, which will play again this weekend in Los Angeles.

And he closed: “I feel enormous pride and honor not only in having reached so many finals but why This team has managed to stay at the top for the last three years.. This speaks for our rugby, for our clubs, for our good training, for the fact that if we work hard we can achieve these goals. We’ve never been up there that long. Keeping them focused is complex. And having achieved it is a reflection of the great maturation of this group.”