Uruguay Triumph in Hard-Fought Munich Rugby Sevens Final
Munich, May 19, 2024 – The Uruguay men’s rugby sevens side emerged victorious in the latest leg of the HSBC Challenger Series, defeating hosts Germany 21-19 in a nail-biting final at the Dantestadion in the Bavarian capital.
Tries from Felipe Arcos Perez, captain Diego Ardao, and Juan González proved crucial as the South American side held off a spirited fightback from the home team. Germany’s Luis Diel and star winger Makonnen Amekuedi crossed the line to keep the match closely contested until the final whistle.
“I feel proud of the team, very proud of the team, of our staff, and of our friends that stayed at home but were in the team,” said skipper Ardao. “We trained very hard. We worked for it and we achieved our goals, that was being champions here and achieving qualification for Madrid.”
Uruguay’s triumph in Munich secures their position as the top seed for the upcoming HSBC SVNS promotion play-off in the Spanish capital later this year. Alongside Germany, Kenya, and Chile also booked their spots in the Madrid event.
“It would be confirmation that we are a great nation in rugby,” Ardao added. “We had already been there last year. It was a pity that we had to be relegated, but those were the rules and as I said, we need to confirm that we are a great nation of rugby, so we want to be there in the series again.”
Ardao paid tribute to his injured teammate Baltazar Amaya, who suffered a broken nose in the opening match and had to return to Uruguay for treatment, by holding up the No. 10 jersey during the trophy celebrations.
While Chile missed out on the third-place play-off against Hong Kong China, they still secured their qualification for the Madrid event, much to the delight of their captain Nicolas Garafulic.
“We are really happy about that [qualifying for Madrid], but I think we could have left Munich with a better feeling as a team,” he said. “We lost two guys on the way. We hope they get better so we go with a full team, but happy for being in Madrid overall.”
Kenya also booked their spot in the Madrid play-offs, with Vincent Onyala expressing his excitement about the opportunity to compete against the best teams in the HSBC SVNS Series once again.
“We are definitely happy, because with beating Uganda now, we have sealed our top four,” he said. “Now we just wait to see what Madrid has for us. Hopefully we’ll get there and build on our little moments then see ourselves back in the HSBC SVNS Series.”
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