Two nations will return home as champions of the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2022: Fiji from the men’s side and Australia from the women’s side.
Fiji defeated New Zealand 29-12 in the championship final in a rematch of the final from the last sevens competition in Los Angeles. The All Blacks were victorious in that matchup, but the Flying Fijians got their revenge as they soared to a World Cup win after leading 24-5 at halftime.
The triumph marked Fiji’s third win in World Cup Sevens tournaments, which is tied with New Zealand for the most of all time. Since the World Cup began in 1993, Fiji took home the title in 1997 and 2005. The win on Sunday means Fiji will maintain its undefeated streak in World Cup finals.
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Fiji had defeated Wales, Samoa and Australia in the knockout stages prior to reaching the final. Ireland took home the bronze medal after beating Australia in the third-place game.
Though the Australia men’s team couldn’t capture any hardware, the women’s team certainly did. The Australia women’s squad also defeated New Zealand 24-22 in an extremely tense affair to take home the World Cup title in the women’s tournament.
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It marked Australia’s second title win in the World Cup since the women’s tournaments started in 2009. New Zealand were victorious in the other two in 2013 and 2018.
France took home bronze after beating USA 29-7 in the third-place game. USA had lost 17-7 to Australia in the semifinals but couldn’t bring home any hardware. The U.S. men’s team was eliminated from title contention after its first game. It finished 11th after placement games.
The next rugby sevens tournament will be in November as the 2022 Hong Kong Sevens kicks off the new season.
