The 2022 HSBC Los Angeles Sevens provided 45 matches over the weekend as the 2021-22 season came to an end.
The Springboks came into the tournament in good shape. They were first in the standings and multiple permutations went their way in terms of what they needed to do to ensure the series title. However, after missing key players like Selvyn Davids due to injury, South Africa completely unraveled in Los Angeles.
It failed to make it out of Pool B and lost to Wales in the 13th-place semifinals, so it only collected three out of a possible 22 points from Los Angeles. However, South Africa managed a second-place finish from the 2021-22 season, but it wasn’t a good showing ahead of the World Cup next month in its backyard.Wales gets a small blurb here after doing the unthinkable against South Africa.
It lost to Samoa in a thrilling quarterfinal match and finished fourth in the entire season, just behind Fiji, which just edged them after finishing second in Los Angeles.France is gradually emerging in the standings. It competed extremely well against tougher teams like Ireland and Fiji in Pool C before winning its last four games en route to beating Scotland 33-0 in the ninth-place playoff game.
The Eagles then struggled in placement matches and lost to a Kenya side that finished 12th on the season. They collected 10 out of a possible 22 points to finish sixth, which is not bad, but they were six points away from edging Ireland for fifth.