Fijiana 7s coach Saiasi Fuli is set to announce his 15-member squad 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.
The Osea Kolisau-coached 15-member men’s sevens team has already flown out on Monday. The men’s sevens tournament will take place from July 24-27, while the women’s competition will be held 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. The reigning Olympic champions and SVNS League winners New Zealand will compete in Pool A against Fiji, Canada, and newly qualified China. Pool B will see Rio 2016 Olympic and SVNS 2024 gold medalists Australia face Ireland, Great Britain, and debutants South Africa. Hosts France are placed in Pool C, featuring the USA, Japan, and Brazil, ranked among the top teams and silver medalists at Tokyo 2020.
The men’s pools are defined as follows: Pool A includes New Zealand, Ireland, South Africa, and Japan; Pool B consists of Argentina, Australia, Samoa, and Kenya; and Pool C features Fiji, France, USA, and Uruguay.
World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont expressed excitement for the tournament, stating, “The rugby sevens Olympic pools promise to be an epic, coming-of-age tournament for our sport in the French capital. Our sport will have the honor of kicking off Paris 2024 with an exciting and spectacular brand of rugby that will thrill the hundreds of thousands of fans in Stade de France and captivate millions more watching around the world. Rugby sevens is a fantastic engine to grow our sport, and in its third Olympic appearance, it is already proving to be one of the Games’ key attractions with record enthusiasm for tickets, mouthwatering rivalries, and strong French national teams hoping to achieve their Olympic dreams on home soil.”
He added, “We know from Rugby World Cup 2023 what an amazing rugby show Paris can deliver, and the Olympic Games will be no different. Knowledgeable and passionate fans are expected to fill the stadium and create an incredible atmosphere, allowing players and teams to showcase their unique combination of speed, strength, and sensational skills.”
All action is set to take place at the refurbished and fully packed Stade de France, which has a capacity of 69,000 seats.