The ‘Lions’ finish thirteenth
MADRID, 22 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish women’s rugby sevens team finished ninth in the HSBC World Rugby 7s Series in Hamilton (New Zealand), after beating Canada (0-7) and Brazil (12-17) in their last matches ), while the Spanish men’s team finished thirteenth.
The ‘Leonas’ knew how to recover from the difficult first day in New Zealand, where they met two of the best teams in the tournament and on the circuit, the United States and Ireland, and continue to consolidate their style ahead of the European Olympic qualifier at the end of the season. In this way, they consolidate in ninth place in the general classification of the HSBC World Rugby 7s Series.
A solitary essay by Claudia Peña, just before halftime, was the difference between Canada and Spain. The ‘Leonas’ knew how to suffer to defend their brand and with their victory they increased the minimal advantage they had in the general classification over the ‘canucks’, who finished eleventh in New Zealand.
In the final for ninth position, the Spanish showed their best version against Brazil and took the lead through Eva Aguirre, who opened the scoring and rehearsed before the break, which ended with a 0-12 score. The Brazilians reacted, tied with two minutes remaining, but Bruna Elías, on the horn, managed the victory rehearsal for the ‘Leonas’.
For its part, the men’s team finished thirteenth after losing to Samoa (24-21), winner in Cape Town and leading the circuit at the New Zealand tournament, and beating Japan (17-21) and Canada (24-14 ).
The tests by Tiago Romero, Josep Serres and Juan Martínez left Spain very close to the Samoans, who took advantage of that confidence in the duel against the Japanese team, where they prevailed thanks to the marks of Paco Cosculluela, Fran Soriano and Manu Moreno.
In the last match, the ‘Leones’ overcame the comeback of the ‘canucks’, who left the trials of Paco Cosculluela and Josep Serres to nothing, going back to take the lead in the final minutes thanks to the marks of Jaime Manteca and Alejandro Laforga. Thus, Paco Hernández’s men are twelfth overall in the HSBC World Rugby 7s Series with 16 points, just five behind Uruguay, which occupies eleventh place.