Madrid (AFP)
For the first international rugby sevens tournament in nearly a year, the French women's team lost in the final of the tournament in Madrid (Spain) on Sunday 17-5 against the Russians, while Argentina was sacred in men.
The Blue pocketed two convincing successes during the day against Poland 31-0 then against the United States (26-7) ... but ended up losing on the last step against the Russians, who had already dominated them the day before (24-12) in the group stage.
However, the results are positive for the girls supervised by David Courteix, who reached the final of this Madrid tournament played behind closed doors in the absence of the main nations of the world circuit (New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Fiji, England ... .).
In the men, no French team, remained confined due to cases of Covid-19 in its ranks.
In the absence of the Blues, it was Argentina who won the final of the men's table, outclassing the astonishing Kenyans 21-14 in the final on Sunday late afternoon, while the Americans finished with a disappointing 3rd place.
The Madrid tournament marks the big comeback of international rugby sevens, which had disappeared since the paralysis of the World Series world circuit in early March 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
After this first round of the Madrid tournament this weekend, another table will start with the same teams the following weekend (February 27-28).
Men's results of the Madrid tournament:
Saturday :
United States - Portugal, 38-17
Argentina - Spain, 40-12
Spain - United States, 5-33
Portugal - Kenya, 5-38
United States - Argentina, 17-24
Spain - Kenya, 5-19
Sunday :
Argentina - Portugal, 47-5
Kenya - United States, 38-7
Argentina - Kenya, 21-7
Portugal - Spain, 14-40
USA - Spain (classification match), 24-17
Argentina - Kenya (final), 21-14
Men's final classification: Pts JGNP pp pc dif
1. Argentina 15 5 5 0 0 153 55 98
2. Kenya 11 5 3 0 2 116 59 57
3. United States 11 5 3 0 2 119 101 18
4. Spain 7 5 1 0 4 79 130 -51
5. Portugal 4 4 0 0 4 41 163 -122
Ladies results of the Madrid tournament:
Saturday :
United States - Poland, 40-0
Russia - Kenya, 43-0
Spain - France, 0-43
Kenya - United States, 7-29
France - Russia, 12-24
Poland - Spain, 26 - 7
France - Kenya, 63-5
Russia - Poland, 45-7
Spain - United States, 0-36
Sunday :
United States - Russia, 19-21
Kenya - Spain, 7-10
Poland - France, 0-31
Russia - Spain, 12-15
France - United States, 26-7
Poland - Kenya, 15-7
Spain - Kenya (classification match), 12-10
USA - Poland (placement match), 47-7
Russia - France (final), 17-5
Final ranking women: Pts JGNP pp pc dif
1. Russia 16 6 5 0 1 180 58 122
2. France 14 6 4 0 2 180 71 109
3. United States 14 6 4 0 2 178 61 117
4. Spain 12 6 3 0 3 44 134 -90
5. Poland 10 6 2 0 4 55 177 -122
6. Kenya 6 6 0 0 6 36 172 -136
© 2021 AFP