The best in the business, here are seven players to watch at the Olympic Game Paris 2024 rugby sevens, starting on Wednesday 24th July.
The Olympic Games Paris 2024 will officially begin on Friday 26th July with the opening ceremony on the River Seine. However, on Wednesday 24th July, the first event will kick off – the rugby sevens.
The men’s and women’s competition will take place in the Stade de France from Wednesday 24th to Tuesday 30th before being transformed for the athletics later in the Games.
24 team, 12 men’s and 12 women’s, will compete for gold with the men’s competition being the first medals awarded at Paris 2024. This will be the third Games to feature rugby sevens with the sport having debuted at Rio 2016.
Fiji are the current defending champions of the men’s event, having retained their title from Rio at Tokyo 2020. For the women, New Zealand are current gold medalists with Australia having won the inaugural title at Rio 2016.
Related: Who are favourites for the Olympics Games rugby sevens at Paris 2024
Paris 2024 Olympics Games: Rugby Sevens
For the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, home side France enter as men’s favourites thanks to winning the recent HSBC SVNS Grand Final in Madrid. They will face tough competition from Argentina, who won three consecutive legs of the HSBC SVNS series, and Fiji who have a perfect record at the Olympic Games to date.
In the women’s competition, all signs point towards a shootout between New Zealand and Australia although Ireland, France and the USA will fancy their chances at taking home a medal and potentially sneaking into a final.
Related: How to watch the Olympics Rugby Sevens live
As is the case whenever he plays, all eyes will be on Toulouse and France star scrum-half Antoine Dupont to bring home a home gold in the men’s competition and light up the competition however the raft of talent living within the Sevens system is vast, with some of the best athletes in rugby set to take centre stage over the next week.
With that, we have taken a look at seven superstar players you should being making a note to watch at the Olympic Games Paris 2024…
Seven rugby players to watch at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 rugby sevens
1. Maddison Levi, Australia
Maddison Levi at the HSBC SVNS Madrid (Photo by OSCAR DEL POZO/AFP via Getty Images)
The deadliest try-scorer in all of rugby, regardless of format or code. Australia’s Maddison Levi is a phenomenon and should be a household name for all rugby fans.
This season she scored a record-breaking 65 tries on the HSBC SVNS circuit, a record she had set herself just the season before. Tall, powerful, fast, Levi will often pop up on the end of a third or fourth phase, taking advantage of stretched, tired defences. Once she gets through a half gap, seldom is she ever caught.
Only 22-years-old, there is little doubt that this try-scoring flood will continue so if you want to watch tries in Paris, make sure to tune in for Levi.
2. Terry Kennedy, Ireland
Terry Kennedy during the Team Ireland Paris 2024 team announcement. (Photo By David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile via Getty Images)
Ireland’s Terry Kennedy is probably one of the smartest rugby sevens players in the world. He is not the fastest or strongest, nor does he have a killer sidestep that can beat any defender.
Instead, Kennedy relies off of pitch perfect game management and reading, ensuring he pops up in the right place at almost every occasion. It is what lead to hime being HSBC SVNS top try scorer this season and a previous World Rugby World Sevens Player of the Year.
The conductor of a solid team that often proves incredibly tough to beat, Kennedy will be hoping to outwit the opposition and steer Ireland into medal contention.
3. Ilona Maher, USA
Ilona Maher at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. (Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)
Utter box office on and off the pitch, when Ilona Maher is on the field, the game is often orbiting around her influence.
In both attack and defence, Maher is known for monster hits that can shift the entire momentum of a game. Her fellow teammates feed off of her ability to draw multiple defenders into contact while her aggressive defence wins turnovers.
The USA are one of multiple women’s team behind New Zealand and Australia who will be hoping to take home a medal and if they are, you would think Maher will be a great influence on that happening.
4. Marcos Moneta, Argentina
Marcos Moneta at HSBC SVNS Perth. (Photo by Will Russell/Getty Images)
A former World Rugby Sevens Players of the Year, Marcos Moneta is one piece of the Argentinian rugby sevens puzzle that lit up the HSBC SVNS series this year. Three legs in a row, the Argentinians seemed an unstoppable force at times.
Moneta is Argentina’s danger man, drifting around the outside edges and wing, capitalising on defensive errors with his electrifying pace. Often, when the game looks dead, up pops Moneta with a half break that injects the game back into life.
Also be on the look out for the current World Rugby Player of the Year Rodrigo Isgro – should he avoid suspension – and Lucho Gonzalez, the one they call the Nightmare Puma – both fan favourites.
5. Portia Woodman-Wickliffe, New Zealand
Portia Woodman-Wickliffe at HSBC SVNS Madrid (Getty Images)
One of, if the greatest to ever do it, Portia Woodman-Wickliffe is a legend of not only New Zealand rugby but world rugby.
A cross-format star is a current Olympic gold medalist, has won the 15s Rugby World Cup and 7s Rugby World Cup twice, is top try scorer in both competitions and has a record 256 tries in Sevens series history too. For deadliest finisher in SVNS, it is a straight shootout between Woodman-Wickliffe and Levi.
Woodman-Wickliffe announced she will be retiring after these Games so expect her to do all she possibly can to go out on a high.
6. Rosko Specman, South Africa
Rosko Specman after victory at the HSBC SVNS Dubai. (Photo by Martin Dokoupil/Getty Images)
Picture your archetypal sevens player and you will probably get somebody like South Africa’s Rosko Specman. Deft hands, incredible acceleration and the ability to sidestep an opponent in a phone box.
Now 35, you would think Specman’s best days were past him yet his return the the Blitzbok sevens fold in 2024 contributed to South Africa’s win in Dubai and their Olympic qualification through the repechage last month.
If you enjoy fun rugby, watch the man they call Specmagic in Paris this summer.
7. Megan Jones, Team GB
Megan Jones at the HSBC Canada Rugby Sevens (Photo by Don MacKinnon / AFP) (Photo by DON MACKINNON/AFP via Getty Images)
For Team GB fans, hopes of a medal will be held by the women’s team in Paris after the men’s side failed to qualify at last month’s repechage, losing to South Africa.
Like the USA, Ireland and France, Team GB women’s side will be among the outsiders hoping to take on Australia and New Zealand for the medals. The side has been bolstered by the return of Ellie Kildunne, fresh from Six Nations domination, and Meg Jones.
Jones is a fantastic ballplayer who, heading to her third Olympic games, will be hopeful of finally bagging a medal.
Which rugby players are you looking forward to watching at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 rugby sevens?
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