In the men’s division of Perth SVNS Argentina stormed home to claim the event for the second consecutive year.
They met Australia in the final, who had battled through an in-form BlitzBoks team in the semis. Los Pumas 7s put on a clinical performance to win 41-5 after the two had met in the pool stages.
Australia forced extra time in the first meeting, but didn’t have enough in the tank to go all the way in the final. Spain ended up beating South Africa to claim third place, a huge result for the Spanish who have hit the 2024/25 SVNS series with best-ever form.
Here are five of the best men’s performers from the weekend in Perth.
Marcos Moneta (Argentina)
When Moneta goes well, Los Pumas 7s go well. It’s no surprise that Argentina went back-to-back in Perth adding the 2025 crown with Moneta on fire. The flyer has express speed that makes the 7s field his playground. He pulled in two kicks for tries against Spain in the semi-final before completing his hat-trick before half-time. An early strike in the final against Australia had Argentina on the way to another event title.
Luciano Gonzalez Rizzolo (Argentina)
The man known as ‘Lucho’ is a human wrecking ball for Los Pumas 7s. Inked up with a new leg tat, Gonzalez bulldozed through teams in Perth. In pool play he produced the assist to beat Australia in golden point extra time. He bagged a double in the final against Australia, scoring a clever effort down the left sideline through two defenders. Gonzalez was named player of the final.
Selvyn Davids (South Africa)
Whenever South Africa needed a spark in Perth, it was superstar Davids delivering with deadly footwork and top end pace scoring tries nearly at will. In the Cup quarter-final against Fiji, Davids had multiple touches in the first try before skinning Fiji with a killer grubber kick for himself for the second. Again he produced two big plays in the semi-final against Australia, which South Africa lost in overtime. Against Spain in the 3rd place playoff, he hit the goose to beat Ramos for a mesmerising solo effort. Perth wasn’t meant to be but the Blitzboks and Davids is in top form.
Terio Veilawa (Fiji)
The diminutive playmaker was in vintage form in Perth producing perhaps the play of the tournament, flinging a wild offload off the deck against New Zealand 30 metres backward into the arms of Naduvalo, who stepped inside one man to score under the posts. In the same pool match, he produced a world class try beating up to four All Blacks, including bumping off forward Lewis Ormond a man nearly twice his size. Veilawa’s dummy against France in the fifth place final was out of the top draw, slicing through to score. Ranked number one headed into Perth, Fiji will be looking to get back to their title-winning ways in Vancouver.
James Turner (Australia)
One of the cult heroes from Australia’s run to the final in Perth, Turner did it all. From scoring tries to setting them up, Turner was a stand out in a young Aussie men’s side who stood up on home turf. He bamboozled Marcos Moneta with an unconventional move on day one, falling to the deck and springing back up for a score. His second try forced extra time against Los Pumas. Dropping under Matt Gonzalez in the quarter-final, Turner beat three Frenchmen before offloading to Hayden Sargeant for their first try.
Honourable mentions: Matt Gonzalez (AUS), Eduardo Lopez (Spain), Tobias Wade (ARG), Matteo Graziano (ARG), Patrick Odongo (Kenya)
