Olympic Sevens Pools Announced

The gold rush is almost upon us and today we learnt who will be facing off in the sevens competition for the Olympic Games in Tokyo next month.

The 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams have now been drawn in three pools of four teams, with World Rugby explaining that the draw was made “according to rankings based upon performances in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and other World Rugby-sanctioned tournaments over the past two years.”

You can see the graphics of all the pools below.

The men’s pool (via World Rugby)

In the men’s event, the finalists from 2016 – Fiji, who won the gold, and Team GB, who took silver – have been drawn in the same pool, alongside the hosts, Japan. Repechage qualifiers Ireland are drawn with South Africa, USA and Kenya.

Related: Ireland qualify for the Olympics

Reigning Women’s Olympic champions Australia will also face USA, China and hosts Japan in their pool. There were tow repechage qualifiers in the women’s event – Russia have been drawn with the Black Ferns, Team GB and Kenya, while France are up against Canada, Brazil and Fijiana.

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said of the draw: “Today’s announcement marks a very exciting step on the road to Tokyo with less than a month to go until the players run out in Tokyo Stadium to compete on the Olympic stage.

The women’s pool (via World Rugby)

“Rugby sevens is a key priority for World Rugby and the inclusion of the sport for the first time in the Games at Rio 2016 had a profound effect, attracting an estimated 30 million new fans globally. With the recent launch of our new ‘This Is How We Sevens’ campaign we are confident millions more fans will engage with the thrilling, fast-paced and action-packed spectacle that is rugby sevens.”

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