The unlikely moment that set Marcos Moneta on the path to sevens stardom

It was in Scotland, in 1883, that rugby sevens was first played. The Melrose Club needed funding and a sports day was held. With rugby being the sport that had taken alight in the Border country, a butcher apprentice who played for the club came up with the idea of the shortened version of the game.

Despite the game booming in the country, when sevens went global more than a century later, Scotland never showed any real presence.

Ironically, one of the biggest superstars in the sevens game, prolific try-scorer Marcos Moneta, constantly celebrates with the St. Andrew’s cross.

The Argentine flyer, since shining in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo, in 2021, after scoring a try crosses his arms.

There is a back story, of course.

Having attended the St. Andrew’s Scots School in the leafy northern suburbs of Buenos Aires and honed his rugby skills at San Andrés, the FP club, “My mates asked me to celebrate so that they knew I was thinking of them, and I started with the St. Andrew’s Cross for the club and then two Ls for my school mates. I then put them together into one celebratory motion,” he opens when speaking to RugbyPass in a very warm midday in Los Pumas 7s home HQ in Maschwitz, about one hour north of downtown BA.

San Andrés, founded as a club in 1911, 73 years after the school was established, has never risen high in the Buenos Aires RU. This year, after a historic season, they won promotion to the Second Division in which they will play next year. Moneta could not play, but shirtless, was seen signing and supporting his team throughout the game and celebrating well into the night.

“Marcos,” says club member Rodrigo Arizaga, “represents all that is good at the club. An example on and off the field, he has time for everybody, will help out on Tuesdays, Thursdays. He is a beacon for the kids, showing that you can make it big coming from San Andrés.

With Santiago Vera Feld, also in the Puma 7s squad, they have been helping our senior sevens team prepare for the end-of-season tournament.”

Always amiable, Moneta, 24, shines when speaking about San Andrés.

“I never left the club; with Santi, we coach the U17s, attend games, go to the seniors’ training season. One of the good things of amateur rugby is that you are there because you chose to be there. You enjoy the social aspect.”

“And San Andrés has helped me grow as a person, as a player; it gave me values. I only pay back as much as I can.”

Playing in age grade teams, they never competed in the elite, yet “we were taught well, developed, grew, and were able to express ourselves.”

The speedster can nowadays clock 40km an hour, he started growing and getting faster around 17, when he shone in a domestic sevens tournament.

A few days later, “I was trying the suit for my prom night when the club manager called to inform me I’d been invited to a national sevens training squad.”

Buenos Aires was hosting the U18 Youth Olympic Games in 2018 and sevens was part of the ticket. “I was totally unaware of the Games and went in with the goal to enjoy myself. At that time, my goal was to finish high school, I had no dreams of international rugby, only playing for my club’s FXV.”

He won an Olympic Gold Medal with teammates Juan Martín González and Rodrigo Isgró, who will play France this weekend.

Soon after, he was preparing for the World Rugby U20 Championship to be played at home in Rosario 2019. A shoo-in for that squad, coach Santiago Gómez Cora took him to Hong Kong, the first of 26 SVNS tournaments he’s played.

That experience, and the U20s, certainly left a mark in him. Preparing as a professional was something that he wanted more of.

With a second U20 Championship on the horizon, Gómez Cora started taunting him as Tokyo 2020 was fast approaching. And when an injury gave Moneta the opportunity, he joined the sevens team for Los Angeles and Vancouver. Upon arriving back, the pandemic changed the world.

No longer eligible for the U20s in 2021, he became a full-time sevens player and his game took off. After helping Argentina to an unlikely silver medal, turning the quarterfinal around with only five players against the Blitzboks, he was chosen World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year.

And, for the following two seasons was in the SVNS Dream Team. “It was very nice, but I took them as an accolade for the team because I did my job which was to score tries. I shone as Rodri Isgró did last year, but it was all thanks to the team.”

Moneta had been fortunate with injuries and as Los Pumas Sevens were owning the 2024 series, a freak accident in the opening game in Hong Kong saw him break his fibula. It was then a mad dash to get him fit in time for Paris.

“The injury taught me a number of life lessons. You can always be in a worse place, so you have to be thankful. Things happen and time passes. The good and the bad eventually will be in the past.”

The team won the SVNS League but lost in Madrid the Series finale against France.

Whilst Moneta did make it to his second Olympic Games, the team was carrying a few niggling injuries amongst key players and things did not go to plan.

“Rugby opened the Games and certain things were not right in the Village: food was not good, we had no water for a couple of days. Certainly not excuses, but something was off.”

When the team faced eventual gold winners France in the quarterfinals, a bad start left them trailing 21-0. With the whole stadium against the Argentines from day one – the French were still hurting from Messi’s World Cup win in 2022 – the tense atmosphere went against Argentina and the team left the Games empty-handed.

Although he has not yet rewatched the final, “I still have flashbacks from Paris and it continues to hurt. I’ve processed it quite a bit, but when I can’t sleep it comes back.”

Hours away from jumping on a long journey that will take him again to Dubai and Cape Town, his confidence levels are high. With only two newcomers that will be eased into the team, Argentina has a hungry squad.

“The goal is to stay in the top three and I want to win in LA and be Series champions.”