Life smiles at
Los Pumas 7's
.
The Argentines are enjoying a great moment on the
World Tour
of that specialty.
They reached the finals on the four dates they have played in the season.
They lost the first and then added three titles in a row, an unprecedented achievement in their history in the competition.
They lead the ranking with a wide margin over their escorts.
And furthermore, they are a solid, forceful team with their own identity.
The recipe for that great present does not have many secrets.
As captain
Santiago Álvarez Fourcade
recognized , it is simply always aiming to improve.
"This present is the result of the work that has been done for many years. Starting with
Santiago Gómez Cora
, our coach, trying to give a structure to Seven, going through all the players who were on the team and reaching the youngest who joined in and gave him that leap in quality that he needed," summarized the 30-year-old from Bahia, in a conversation with
Clarín
from Los Angeles.
And he added: "As Santi said at the weekend, we always aim to improve, individually and as a group. Try to improve every day, whether in training, practicing something technical or tactical or in breaks and eating. And not being thinking or going crazy to win and overtake the rival, because we know that we have to do a lot of things before achieving that. The important thing is always the process and enjoying all those steps."
-How do you abstract yourself from the search for victory and focus on the process, taking into account that, in the long run, sport lives on results?
-Obviously we play to win and add medals, but as a group we cling very closely to the idea of setting objectives not about results, but about always trying to do things a little better.
If we look at the videos from the weekend, there are surely a lot of things to correct.
So, for example, if we see that we increase the number of losses, during the week we work to lower it.
And after the next tournament, we'll see if we can do it.
We try not to set ourselves the goal of reaching the semifinals.
That's the end of the road.
The Pumas 7's have won four medals (three gold) in the four dates played this season.
Photo Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP
-You talk a lot about enjoyment. Is it another key to this moment?
-It is a very important thing.
If we didn't enjoy it and our daily lives would become very heavy, it would clearly be impossible.
Having the group we have, we say the family we have, is very important to improve day by day.
We are a group of friends who travel and play as if we were playing for our club.
We take it that way, but with the responsibility of knowing that we are actually representing Argentina.
In
Los Angeles
, the albiceleste team will play on Saturday and Sunday the fifth event of a season that began last year, with silver in
Dubai
and gold in
Cape Town
and continued in 2024 with the consecrations in
Perth
and
Vancouver
, where just four days ago they lifted the trophy for the third consecutive year.
"It is difficult to put into words what these medals mean and what we are achieving, especially because it is very recent. We have not fallen much yet. There is a little relief because we see that everything we have been doing is paying off and that we are going the right path. But above all, a lot of joy at always being able to fight among the first four, something we have wanted for a long time. We are enjoying it, although this is Seven and we don't have time to think much about what we achieved. A tournament ends and we are already thinking about what is coming," acknowledged the center that emerged in
CASI
.
"We are a group of friends who travel and play as if we were playing for our club," said Álvarez Fourcade.
Photo Ethan Cairns/The Canadian Press via AP
-Historically, talking about Argentine rugby meant talking about teams that fought with great determination but almost always from below. You changed that reality a little and for some years now you have been protagonists in all the tournaments you play. Did they get used to being favorites?
-We feel that way.
We know that we are one of the teams that everyone wants to face and everyone wants to win, because we manage to have consistency and good victories are not isolated.
And we were able to maintain it over time, which is the most complicated thing.
We are all super aware of the place we are in, but at the same time we insist a lot on the idea of not thinking about that, but focusing on what is ours.
When it comes to training and playing we try to get that out of our heads and think about trying to improve what we did yesterday.
-It is finding a balance between believing it enough to be able to play as equals with the powers but not enough to trust yourself.
-Yes, exactly.
Having humility off the court is great.
But on the court you have to believe it a bit.
Or rather, fill yourself with confidence to do it in the best way, without thinking that you have the
All Blacks
,
Fiji
or
South Africa
in front of you , which are powers of the Sevens.
It's a mix of things, a balance that means we can continue working with our feet on the ground off the court, but when it comes time to play, we enter with a lot of confidence.
-In the team, whoever comes in plays well and can make a difference. Does it also have to do with a mental, physical and rugby balance?
-It's a mix of everything.
We are all in very good shape physically, rugby, technically, and mentally.
And internal competition also contributes to the growth of the group and is an important part of everything we are achieving.
Beyond the fact that we get along very well with each other, no one can relax a little because there is someone behind who comes with a lot of desire and a lot of energy and is also technically very well prepared.
This makes each person grow individually and that influences the growth of the group.
2024 World Tour Ranking 📈
🥈 Dubai
🥇 Cape Town
🥇 Perth
🥇 Vancouver #SeVenComoSiempre pic.twitter.com/az2Ryy6Jp2
— Los Pumas 7s (@lospumas7arg) February 26, 2024
-Do you feel close to your ceiling?
-We still have a lot to grow.
If we talk about the game, there are many things that we can continue to improve or change, to surprise our rivals.
Likewise, in the same way that we do not think about results, we do not think about whether we are at our ceiling, because we have a year ahead of us with a lot of objectives and competitions that we would like to arrive at prepared to do the best job.
We are enjoying what we do and always trying to be better.
Goal, Paris 2024
The biggest goal that Los Pumas 7's have for 2024 is the
Paris Olympic Games
.
In the French capital they could add their second medal, after the bronze they won in
Tokyo 2020
.
Current two-time Pan American champions (in
Santiago 2023
they revalidated the title they had won in
Lima 2019
), the Argentines are big favorites for the Olympic tournament, which will be played from July 24 to 30 at the
Stade de France
.
And they know it.
"The Games are our great goal. We are anxious, we already think about it and talk about it. We are aware that we are at a high level and we are playing very nice rugby. But we try to abstract ourselves from that and continue on the path that brought us up to here," commented Álvarez Fourcade.
From the bronze of Tokyo to the golden dream of Paris.
"We feel like we can fight for gold," said Álvarez Fourcade.
AP Photo/Shuji Kajiyama
"Paris is going to be tremendous. It is a country where rugby is very popular and there is a lot of history behind it. Sevens, as a discipline within the Olympic Games where there are a million sports, is going to be very important. And in a city where "The organization is sure to be very good, we are going to live a very nice experience," said the man who was already an Olympian in
Rio 2016
- Argentina was sixth after losing to
Great Britain
in the quarterfinals - and in the Japanese event.
And he added: "As a team we have confidence and we feel that we can fight for gold. But I go back to what I said before: we know that first we have to do a lot of things. We are not going to go to the Games and so on because it will appear the medal. We have to go step by step. We still have some stages left in the season and there are quite a few things to improve. We want to enjoy the journey to get to Paris in the best possible way. Afterwards, this is rugby, it is a sport, and there are luck too. You can throw the ball from one side to the other and lose a game. But if we arrive well prepared, surely that luck will go our way. For now, we are calm that we are on the right track.