2024 Paris Olympics Rugby Sevens 24th-30th July

Mens

Pool A
Ireland
Japan
South Africa
New Zealand

Pool B
Argentina
Australia
Kenya
Samoa

Pool C
Fiji
France
Uruguay
USA

Womens

Pool A
Canada
China
Fiji
New Zealand

Pool B
Australia
GB
Ireland
South Africa

Pool C
Brazil
France
Japan
USA

Men's matches on the first day

Australia vs Samoa
Argentina vs Kenya
France vs USA
Fiji vs Uruguay
Ireland vs South Africa
New Zealand vs Japan

(Of those matches, the first teams named in each fixture are the favourites to win, except Ire vs SA which could go either way, though Ireland go in with the better season record. Still, Japan beat NZ in Rio, so favourites don't always deliver in the short code)


Australia vs Kenya
Argentina vs Samoa
France vs Uruguay
Fiji vs USA
Ireland vs Japan
New Zealand vs South Africa

(Again, the first teams named are favourites, including NZ vs SA, though what occurred in the first round can change the calculus)

https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/schedule/rugby-sevens?day=24-july

Australia 7-7 Samoa at half-time

Much closer than matches on the circuit. Perhaps a sign of how much the Olympics mixes up the form guide.

Samoa had a good chance to get a go-head score but couldn't get the last pass away. Australia scored twice on two phases of possession to make it 21-7. Samoa got one back after the full-time hooter to make it 21-14.

Fabulous to see it played at a proper rugby venue... Though it brings home how much of a missed opportunity it was not to introduce 7s in 2012, when there was a perfect venue standing idle in West London.

There's a very good crowd already, because France are up in the third match.

Incidentally, I have a small dissent over some of the superlatives commentators are giving Dupont. He's being given credit for helping France to its first ever series win on the Sevens circuit. The thing is, a series win this year was not really comparable with series wins before.

Previously, series winners were those teams which had amassed the most points across the year. In 2024, that was Argentina, not France, and they got a trophy for doing so.

In a format change, however, the top eight finishers across the season then played a Grand Final weekend. That's the weekend where France came out on top. It's definitely an achievement but France was no stranger to winning series rounds. On a practical level, the Grand Final was on a par with those, so Dupont wasn't quite the secret sauce for an unprecedented French performance.

There's also the claim that sevens specialists thought Dupont would not transfer his skills. From what I read and heard, experts said the codes are so different, most players cannot make a switch. However, some, notably the Fijiians, do so. The general view on Dupont was that he probably had the best chance of transferring of any top XVs player.

He has been good but he's not yet a stand-out sevens players. As he probably won't play the code again after the Olympics, this will really be the only chance to judge his value to the squad.

XVs players in Sevens are a bit like League players when they first transfer to Union. They often take the ball too far and get isolated, because they haven't properly assessed the risk of losing possession. Michael Hooper did that a lot when he was trying out for the Olympics, and Dupont has done it too on occasion. Dupont makes up for it with an amazing work rate, which we hope to see in Paris.

Meanwhile, after a tight first half, Argentina beat Kenya handily 31-12.

First turn-up:

France 12-12 USA

USA had possession in their own half on the final play but took the draw. Presumably their coach has calculated getting points from this match will put them in a better position to qualify than coming away with nothing.

Comfortable 40-12 win for Fiji over Uruguay.

Next is Ireland vs RSA, which is the one I've been staying up for.

Kennedy outsprints everyone but kicks a yard too long for the try.

Ireland win a rare scrum turnover to get possession back.

Ireland have had all the ball but Conroy knocks on as he reaches out for a try.

Finally, as the half ends, Ireland get on the board through Conroy.

Referee is also looking at a head-on-head

TMO says it was only a penalty advantage, and the resulting try means no further action.

South Africa got what looks like an unlucky yellow card.

Ireland make the advantage count with a second try.

South Africa get one back with seconds to full time.

It's 10-5 with time for a kick-off but the ball doesn't go ten.

Ireland finish the game. They were the better team, and deserved the win.

I'll catch up with the rest of the day's matches tomorrow,

Rugby Fan wrote:First turn-up:

France 12-12 USA

USA had possession in their own half on the final play but took the draw. Presumably their coach has calculated getting points from this match will put them in a better position to qualify than coming away with nothing.

Doom on France and Dupont. And that is a shame.
A draw against the USA (who in turn got hammered by Fiji) and a workman like win over Uruguay. Not looking good.

The first two rounds went to form, with the exception of France drawing with USA.

The effect of that is to put USA in pole position to qualify as one of the best two third-placed teams, as they can finish with a win and a draw. They will need to beat Uruguay, though. The South Americans are no mugs, and will be keen to get at least one win.

The other place will likely come down to who finishes best out of Samoa or South Africa. The Boks face Japan, and they will probably be easier beats than Kenya, who Samoa face last.

Ireland, NZ, Fiji and Argentina have all looked in good form. In the last round, Argentina play Australia, Ireland play NZ, and France play Fiji. Qualification is already assured for all these sides, so it'll be interesting to see whether they go full on, or elect to save themselves for the knock-out rounds.

For Argentina, Australia, Ireland and NZ, the incentive to finish top is that the next opponent will be one of the best third-place finishers. Finishing second in the Pool A or Pool B will put you up against Fiji or France, which is not an ideal outcome.

For Fiji and France, there's no major advantage in finishing top, as the opponent will be one of NZ, Ireland, Australia or Argentina anyway.

A couple of regular XVs YouTubers have been commenting on the Olympics

Must be new for the French 7s team to be playing with the pressure of expectation.

formerly known as Sam wrote:Must be new for the French 7s team to be playing with the pressure of expectation.

France do have a fair chance of a medal. As I mentioned above, though, I think some pundits who don't watch Sevens regularly got misled by hearing France won the Grand Final, and started talking them up as one of the favourites. Across seven round of the SVNS series, they were only the fifth best side. The rankings after Singapore were:

Argentina - 106
Ireland - 104
NZ - 93
Australia - 83
France - 80
Fiji - 80
RSA - 68
GB -53
USA - 52
Spain -36
Samoa - 29
Canada - 14

France did get gold in LA, and silver in HK, so they can win medals. Across the season, though, Argentina and Ireland were more consistent, Ireland didn't win any golds but Argentina won 3 rounds. Fiji had a very weird season where nothing seemed to click. As they seem to raise their game for the Olympics, you could look at that rankings list and conclude France might only be the sixth best team at the Olympics.

The reason there are so many video clips of Dupont playing Sevens is not because he's regularly the best player. It's because he's being used to market rugby at the Olympics. Just like Sonny Bill Williams in Rio, which didn't have a happy ending.

Rugby Fan wrote:
There's also the claim that sevens specialists thought Dupont would not transfer his skills. From what I read and heard, experts said the codes are so different, most players cannot make a switch. However, some, notably the Fijiians, do so. The general view on Dupont was that he probably had the best chance of transferring of any top XVs player.

He has been good but he's not yet a stand-out sevens players. As he probably won't play the code again after the Olympics, this will really be the only chance to judge his value to the squad.

XVs players in Sevens are a bit like League players when they first transfer to Union. They often take the ball too far and get isolated, because they haven't properly assessed the risk of losing possession. Michael Hooper did that a lot when he was trying out for the Olympics, and Dupont has done it too on occasion. Dupont makes up for it with an amazing work rate, which we hope to see in Paris.

There's a fun interview with Ellie Kildunne on RugbyPass that talks about her and Megan Jones (re)joining the GBR 7s for the Olympics, and it sheds a bit of light on that. Kildunne (who's in a similar position to Dupont as the standout talent in the women's 15s game right now) says that it was not a done deal that she'd be accepted into the training camp or get picked for the Olympics, and has had to work on a number of things - not least, realising that she's not the fastest player in the squad, and having to do a lot more tackling and rucking ("In 15s there are other players to do that most of the time"). I imagine Dupont will have had a similar transition - positions are much less definite in 7s.

She also, for anyone who's interested, provides quite an entertaining explanation of the "cowboy movement" in the Roses camp, and some insights into the new, milder John Mitchell.

Meanwhile, the 7s has been very entertaining so far. Even Ms Poorfour Mi, who normally prefers to play than watch, was gripped and yelling at the players to run straight and pass the ball to the man in space.

The officials seemed a bit generous to Australia in their match against Argentina - one Aussie tackler refused to roll away for about 30 seconds after the whistle had already been blown, with no additional sanction.

Argentina 14-22 Australia

Those teams seemed equally matched

USA 33-17 Uruguay

That confirms USA will go to the quarter-finals. Their decision to take the draw against France, rather than try for a win, and risk a loss, has been validated.

When France struggled against Uruguay, the coverage talked about the South Americans as if they are minnows. Uruguay have taken some big scalps in their day, and are probably about where Canada used to be, when they were capable of beating NZ.

On the Sevens circuit, the biggest crowd reaction is usually HK. This Olympic crowd supporting France is a different level entirely.

France losing to Fiji means they will play Argentina.

Ireland have started brightly against NZ but blew an early chance. They have a lot of early possession, and NZ are giving away breakdown penalties.

Ward opens the scoring by beating an opponent on the outside.

Unconverted, so it's Ireland 5-0 NZ

Looked for a minute Conroy dropped that but the replay shows he had it under control for the grounding.

Its Ireland 12-0 NZ at half time.

The winner of this match plays South Africa next. The loser plays Fiji. You probably want to be the winner.

NZ make it interesting straight away, with a try under the posts.

Ireland 12-7 NZ

After a lot of Irish possession but NZ get a converted score to take the lead at full time.

Referee penalizes Ireland so it finishes Ireland 12-14 NZ

Rugby Fan wrote:After a lot of Irish possession but NZ get a converted score to take the lead at full time.

I thought the ref made himself too much a part of the game with his finickiness about those penalties on the NZ 5m line, though.

Quarter Finals are:

NZ vs SA
Argentina Vs France
Fiji vs Ireland
Australia vs USA

You can't call those matches with any certainty but the first-named teams in each fixture are probably favourites.

Poorfour wrote:

Rugby Fan wrote:After a lot of Irish possession but NZ get a converted score to take the lead at full time.

I thought the ref made himself too much a part of the game with his finickiness about those penalties on the NZ 5m line, though.

Agreed, though you do see that a lot on the Sevens circuit.

People tend to think Sevens is fast and loose, so don't expect referees to be too letter-of-the-law. Officials take the view that defending teams generally haven't got much time to set up, and don't want them disadvantaged unnecessarily. They often call back quickly-taken penalties.

Over pool play, it's noticeable the crowds is clearly not used to seeing Sevens teams running down the clock by delaying restarts, as the boos have been going up. That's another regular part of play.

France have finally arrived - 21-0 v Argentina at HT!

Hard to say whether Ireland were robbed there - there was definitely a Fiji hand on the ball but whether it was forward is hard to tell.

Looks like Ireland could be heading for another agonising defeat, but Fiji keep giving them a lifeline with penalties.

Argentina, Ireland, and New Zealand were the top three finishers on the regular season circuit this year, and none of them will get a medal of any colour in Paris. There would have been long odds against that before the games started. NZ and Argentina won silver and bronze in Tokyo.

That's terribly sad for Ireland, who looked good even in defeat to NZ. Argentina look like they froze, and NZ will wake up wondering what hit them.

On form, the odds were also against South Africa making the semi-finals. In the XVs World Cup, they became the first winners to have dropped a match earlier in the tournament. Now the Blitzbokke could be the first medalists to have have lost two pool matches.

The draw is:

South Africa vs France
Fiji vs Australia

Australia have had the smoothest run to the semi-finals, so some pundits are already tipping them for gold. If pushed, though, the Australians would likely have prefererred South Africa or France to Fiji.

Fiji and South Africa both had poor seasons on the circuit which were attributed to coaching changes.

Fiji dumped Ben Gollings earlier this year, which didn't make any immediate change. Osea Kolinisau, part of the team which won gold in Rio, took over. He recalled Jerry Tuwai, so the Fijians have a bit of Olympic gold dust around the squad again, which seems to have turned their fortunes. They make far more mistakes than Fijian champions of old but have some of their old aura back.

South Africa also switched its coaching team around but the victory over NZ is virtually the first time in the last few months that the Blitzbokke have earned a hard-fought victory over a top opponent. They only just made the Olympics by grabbing the last spot over a plucky but outgunned GB.

South Africa against France is a delicious match-up because of the XVs World Cup quarter-final between the same nations. It would be good for the sport if France made the final.

Fiji and Australia are both likeable teams. You'd imagine the crowd would be behind Fiji, though Australia might be a better opponent if France do get to the final.

Ive been abroad with little coverage over last week but home last night and watched QFs. Maybe a bit damp etc but I was slightly underwhelmed from what I was expecting. Fiji after scoring within 30s I thought would romp it but almost allowed Ire back in.
France looked good v Arg although dreadful crowds. I know about issue with football and chants etc but rugby getting like it now.
SA I thought were better than NZ and deserved win.
Likwise Aus v USA.

I'm hoping for a France v Fiji final. Holders vs Hosts is a great way to kick off the games.

I feel sorry for Ireland - I think they've played really well but got tough calls two matches in a row that made the difference between winning and losing.

Fiji will surely beat Aus in SF so it'll be them in final.
Agree France v Fiji be perfect final although I was impressed with SA.

mountain man wrote:Fiji will surely beat Aus in SF so it'll be them in final..

Australia and Fiji faced each other 3 times over the course of the SVNS series, and Australia won all three. There's no doubt Fiji look better now but Ireland nealy beat them yesterday. The teams which aim to starve Fiji of possession often do best. Trouble is, that's a hard strategy to execute well over the whole match. Australia try to pressure them by attacking. Fiji's defense was in a mess a few months ago, so it worked. It will be harder at the Olympics.

NZ commentator Rikki Swannell - who is one of the best at calling both mens and womens matches - says she notices an entirely different mood at the Olympics compared with the regular Sevens circuit, or even an event like the Commonwealth Games. Players are much more tense, and she thinks a number of Unions don't realize they ought to prepare their Sevens teams differently for the Olympics.

You could see that tension in some of the Quarter-Finals. South Africa got a lot of profit for kicking the ball downfield, and inviting the opposition to attack, much as you see teams do in the longer code. That doesn't work out consistently well on the circuit, where handling is usually assured, and teams make more out of having the ball.

Aus have got to SF for first time ever I believe, Fiji been there and got the gold t-shirt a couple of times. Obviously history no measure of what happens now but Fiji I think if they play to potential which they didn't last night will be too strong for Australia.

Rugby Fan wrote:
You could see that tension in some of the Quarter-Finals. South Africa got a lot of profit for kicking the ball downfield, and inviting the opposition to attack, much as you see teams do in the longer code. That doesn't work out consistently well on the circuit, where handling is usually assured, and teams make more out of having the ball.

Ropey handling has been a bit of a feature of this summer's rugby. The senior men's tests were pretty good considering the conditions and the layoffs some of the teams had had, but the U20s games and sevens so far have been characterised by some wild passing, especially under pressure.

Going by some of the general commentary, and social media interactions, it does look like very few players, outside Antoine Dupont, are developing any kind of profile with the casual audience.

That's one reason it's a shame Argentina, Ireland and NZ have gone out. Those three teams had a lot of characters with stories. Australia isn't too bad. Mark Nawaqanitawase is the former Wallaby international who announce a move to the NRL next season but still got selected for the Olympics. Maurice Longbottom is only 5'6", 75kg but a wizard on the ball.

South Africa is a bit featureless, compared with the days of Cecil Afrika, Rosko Specman, Kwagga Smith, Werner Kok etc. Fiji has Jerry Tuwai but most people won't know the other squad members.

Still, World Rugby hopes are probably on continued success for France, and the fairytale of Fiji. Though they probably would prefer Fijian squad member Josaia Raisuqe doesn't score a winning try. Ospreys fans might remember him stamping on Keelan Giles while playing for Stade. At last count, he had 10 yellow cards and 5 red cards in France. And an arrest for punching a woman back in 2017.

There 70k people in the ground to watch the 7s apparently. That's not a casual audience. Always going to be difficult to stand out at the Olympics with so many sports on. Won't cause waves over here, well at least until the women's. As the men's 7s team aren't present so reporting will be minimal.

formerly known as Sam wrote:There 70k people in the ground to watch the 7s apparently. That's not a casual audience.

I mean casual in the sense of people who haven't had much contact with the sport they are watching. The majority of rugby fans rarely watch Sevens, so they are mostly casual fans of the code. That packed stadium is having a great time but I doubt many have spent time watching Sevens on TV, let alone live before.

I brought up name recognition, because that used to be one of the metrics which World Rugby would use to determine if Olympic Sevens was a worthwhile exercise. When Brett Gosper took over as CEO, one of the first things he said was he wanted more high profile XVs players in Olympic Sevens squads to achieve that goal. People on the Sevens series countered it would be easier to try and market the players already in the short code. Personally, I doubt it's a good measure of whether Sevens has succeeded as an Olympic event.

The women's side of the game does much better, because there's already more player crossover. General rugby fans in NZ and Australia know Ruby Tui, Portia Woodman, and Charlotte Caslick, who are all in Paris. However, in most team sports at the Olympics, competitors only really get into the consciousness of the their own country's general public if they win, or at least come close. One of the problems with breaking through, is the way the IOC is even stingier than World Rugby in allowing fair use of footage on social media.

NZ vs Argentina could have been a medal match but it was just a semifinal to see who finishes 5th.

It went to golden point after 12-12 during normal time, and NZ got the winning try.

France vs SA is 0-0 at half-time

That has happened before in Sevens but it is really rare.

South Africa looked so shocked by conceding the penalty, they forgot to defend.

That second French try was the match-winner, and the last score was just a cherry on top.

France 19-5 South Africa

Not quite revenge for the World Cup quarter-final but it'll do for now. France are now guaranteed a silver medal, and will take gold if they win the final.

Fiji 7-7 Australia at half-time

Handling looks difficult for both teams.

Jerry Tuwai has made those last two tries for Fiji, to put them 21-7 ahead.

Fiji drop kick penalty makes it 24-7, which secures the match.