Fijiana 7s coach Saiasi Fuli is anticipated to announce his 15-member team for the Paris Olympics this week. Fuli confirmed that the team will depart for France on Monday, July 15.
“We will be at the HFC Bank stadium tomorrow (today),” Fuli stated yesterday.
Osea Kolisau’s 15-member men’s sevens team already flew out on Monday. The men’s sevens competition takes place from July 24-27, while the women’s tournament runs from July 28-30. The men’s gold medal match on July 27 will be the first team sport gold medal awarded at the Games.
The women’s competition features three highly competitive pools. Reigning Olympic champions and SVNS League winners New Zealand will compete in Pool A against Fiji, Canada, and newly qualified China.
Pool B features a tough lineup with Rio 2016 Olympic and SVNS 2024 gold medalists Australia facing Ireland, Great Britain, and debutants South Africa. Hosts France are in Pool C, ranked among the top teams with a silver medal from Tokyo 2020, and will face off against the USA, Japan, and Brazil.
Men’s pools are as follows: Pool A – New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, Japan; Pool B – Argentina, Australia, Samoa, Kenya; Pool C – Fiji, France, USA, Uruguay.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont remarked, “The rugby sevens Olympic pools promises to be an epic, coming-of-age tournament for our sport in the French capital.”
“Our sport will have the honour of kicking off Paris 2024 in style with an exciting and spectacular brand of rugby that will captivate hundreds of thousands of fans at Stade de France and millions more around the world,” Beaumont added.
“Rugby sevens is an engine for growing our sport and in its third Olympic appearance, it has already become one of the attractions of the Games with record enthusiasm for tickets, intense rivalries, and two strong French national teams aiming for Olympic glory on home soil,” Beaumont continued.
Fresh off the excitement of Rugby World Cup 2023, Paris is expected to produce another amazing rugby spectacle during the Olympic Games, with knowledgeable and passionate fans set to fill the Stade de France and create an electrifying atmosphere.
All events will take place at a revamped Stade de France, which holds 69,000 seats.