Argentina women’s sevens seek HSBC SVNS spot in Madrid

Madrid’s coat of arms, which dates back to the 13th century, shows a bear clambering a strawberry tree – straining to snaffle berries from its lower boughs. 

The creatures – occasionally hunted through the hills by bored monarchs – used to roam the region which was liberally sprinkled with the now-infamous madroño trees. These proved just as formidable as the bears, by all accounts: their abundant fruit would be distilled into a deceptively potent liquor.

The bear population has since been driven away, but – this weekend – another pack of hunters will descend upon Spain’s capital, specifically the Metropolitano Stadium, in search of not strawberries, but a spot on HSBC SVNS 2025.

Both the men’s and women’s Challenger Series competitions concluded a fortnight ago when 24 contenders were whittled down to an octet of would-be core teams. With tickets to Madrid punched, the real battle can commence: a high-stakes promotion/relegation play-off between HSBC SVNS 2024 nations unable to guarantee their safety over seven hard-fought rounds, and those who’ve excelled in the sport’s second tier – and fancy a crack at the main event.

No bears in Madrid, then. But, among this crusade of those determined to upset the status quo, there is a squad of Jaguars. 

While Argentina’s Pumas look to add to their overflowing trophy cabinet, and head to Paris with snarling, world-beating momentum – Las Yaguaretés are among those looking to join the sport’s elite. 

Bronze in Dubai, silver in Montevideo, and then fifth in Krakow was enough to sew up second in the standings and find themselves in Pool B of the qualifier, jostling with Belgium, Brazil, and South Africa. 

They brushed the Europeans aside 40-5 in the semi-finals in Uruguay, secured a historic win over the Yaras in October’s Sudamérica Rugby Championship, and will have noted with relish that the Springbok Women's Sevens have made it beyond the pool stages just once all season. 

It’s not a bad group, by any standards – and Las Yaguaretés have done well to swerve early meetings with the effervescent Japan and China.

Step by step

For vice-captain Mayra Genghini, just as it has been all season, it’s about taking things one step at a time.

“We’ve kept our objective simple and constant: to qualify for Madrid, where we know that everyone around us is after the same thing, and will put everything they have out on the park,” she said.

“We’ll need to redouble our efforts, but what’s good is that it’s in our hands: our own effort depends on us and us alone. We’re climbing strongly, step by step, towards our dream – of entering the HSBC SVNS Series for the first time.”

The 31-year-old is a seasoned campaigner in Nahuel García’s side, having made her debut a decade ago, but isn’t taking a second in those famous white-and-blue hoops for granted. 

She took a few years out from the sport to qualify as an accountant, seeking professional longevity away from rugby – when she also pursued handball to an elite level – but was coaxed back last Autumn by a phone call from the coach. 

“It’s beautiful being able to represent my country again,” she said. “It was always a source of pride, but I now feel it even more strongly. It’s difficult to put the feeling into words … I’m so grateful for that unexpected call.”

Fortunately, the Yaguareté – who plays with 16 on her back and the side’s emblem inked onto her right arm – proves more than capable of articulating just what makes this team unique. 

“We love each other very much, and that friendship gives us a confidence which sets us apart. The more united we are off the pitch, the more united we prove on it – and we have a truly special bond.”

Although more professional than ever before, life as an Argentine women’s sevens player is unrelenting: daily individual sessions, training with club set-ups, additional work with the union’s regionalised high-performance academies, and then gathering at Casa Pumas in Buenos Aires for a week or two each month to up-skill en masse. 

Squeezing that in around full-time accountancy, as Genghini does, takes some mettle – but she seems unfazed by the commitment. 

It helps, of course, when you’re playing for teammates as beloved as hers – and a coach who is ‘a brilliant person’. 

“That, for me, is the basis of any relationship – and Nahuel being such a great ambassador for the game and a great human means he’s able to help us reach our potential.”

Their ceiling is something they’re still learning about themselves – having, in Genghini’s words, travelled to Dubai for the campaign opener, ‘not really knowing how it was going to go, but hoping to reach the top four’.

That achieved, they headed to Montevideo, ‘believing in the strength we had in both attack and defence, and that we could take on anyone’. 

A silver medal was, objectively, an improved return, but they left with ‘the bitter taste’ of having under-performed in the final against China – who ran out emphatic 38-7 winners. 

Stick, carrot

With the stick of that disappointment and the carrot of a spot in Madrid on the line, they ran out in Poland knowing that fifth would guarantee qualification – and promptly topped their pool on the opening day. 

Unfortunately, they met an inspired Kenya in the quarter-finals, who flew from the traps to lead 17-0 at the break. 

Las Yaguaretés couldn’t get a foothold in a first half dominated by the Lionesses, who had had their number in the last four in Dubai, too. 

Out-of-sorts, and deprived of possession for vast swathes of the encounter, they tumbled from the draw. 

Fortunately, their earlier performances had been enough to see them through to the fifth-place play-off, when Genghini and co regrouped, recovered, and edged Czechia by three points. Not the silverware they’d targeted but job done – and the chants of ‘Nos vamos pa’ Madrid!’ as they cavorted around the Henryk Reyman's Municipal Stadium were infectiously exuberant. 

“We’d been training since October for that,” Genghini said. “In that moment, we realised a dream.”

Argentina’s pool this weekend might be kind, but their schedule is not. 

Tough schedule

They’re Friday’s curtain raiser – up against South Africa – before taking on Brazil that afternoon. No time to ease into things against a lower-ranked side, as they’ve frequently enjoyed on the Challenger Series: Sofía González and her team will need to hit unprecedented heights at 11am on day one, back that up against their great rivals a few hours later, and then ensure they don’t slip up against Belgium the following lunchtime. 

The play-off format’s brutally high-stakes are as unforgiving as it was designed to be, but what an opportunity for this group, who only need to look over to their compatriots for inspiration. 

The reigning Men’s Sevens Player of the Year, Rodrigo Isgró, recently reflected on Los Pumas’ historic Series title – revealing that, after his first tournament, Santi Gomez Cora’s squad, ‘stayed to watch the finals, and it seemed truly impossible to be in that place’. 

At the time, the sport’s upper echelons looked simply unattainable to the athlete currently on top of the SVNS world, as they head to an Olympic Games in Paris that he and his teammates believe they can win. An awful lot can change in a few years…

“They’re an example to follow,” Genghini mused, adding that the women’s side will benefit from the pooling of Argentine staff and resources in Madrid. 

Each additional stint on the treatment table or nugget of analytical wisdom could prove crucial, and watching their colleagues in blue-and-white vie for gold could prove the catalyst for something special.

“We follow them closely right across the circuit, and are immensely proud to see our flag at its summit. We hope they can build on that triumph in Madrid – and hope to see them in the front row as we look to make history of our own.”