The pools were drawn for the World Rugby Sevens Repechage on Saturday 20 April at an event in Monaco ahead of the crucial final qualification tournament to decide the last remaining men’s and women’s teams to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 rugby sevens.
The three-day Repechage event will take place at Stade Louis II in Monaco on 21-23 June, 2024, returning to the venue that also hosted final qualification events prior to the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
The pool draw was attended by Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco, accompanied by World Rugby Vice Chaiman John Jeffrey.
The tournament will feature 12 women’s and 12 men’s teams all vying to achieve the ultimate prize of representing their country on the biggest global sporting stage of them all.
The men’s competition will be decided between Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Great Britain, Hong Kong China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Spain, Tonga and Uganda.
South Africa’s Blitzboks will be strong contenders after winning the first round of HSBC SVNS 2024 in Dubai in December, while Canada, Great Britain and Spain are also core teams on the top level rugby sevens circuit.
The women’s tournament looks wide open and will feature Argentina, China, Czechia, Hong Kong China, Kenya, Jamaica, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Samoa and Uganda with Czechia making their Repechage debut.
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Rugby sevens is set to provide an unforgettable curtain raiser at Stade de France as the first sport to kick-off the Olympic Games in Paris on 24 July 2024, two days ahead of the Opening Ceremony.
All six World Rugby regions are represented among the 11 men’s and 11 women’s teams that have already secured their spots in Paris via the HSBC SVNS and regional qualification competitions.
In the men’s event, hosts France are joined by New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia who booked their places in Paris by ranking in the top four positions of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023, along with six regional qualification tournament winners in Uruguay (South America), Ireland (Europe), USA (North America), Kenya (Africa), Samoa (Oceania) and Japan (Asia).
The women’s Olympic line-up includes New Zealand, Australia, Ireland and USA as the top four qualifiers through the 2023 World Series, along with hosts France. They have been joined by Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Fiji and Japan as regional qualification tournament winners in the women’s tournament.
Paris 2024 is rugby sevens’ third appearance at the Games, and the sport is expected to be one of the most highly anticipated events of the Paris Games, following the outstanding success of Rugby World Cup 2023 in France.
Fiji’s men have dominated the Olympic competition to date with double gold medal success on debut at Rio 2016 and again in Tokyo five years later. New Zealand are the reigning women’s Olympic champions and Australia won the inaugural women’s Olympic gold medal in Rio.
Repechage in Pools
Pool A: South Africa, Chile, Tonga, Mexico
Pool B : Great Britain, Canada, Uganda, China
Pool C: Spain, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea
Brazil
Women Pools
Pool A: Argentina, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Samoa
Pool B: Uganda, Hong Kong China, Paraguay, Jamaica
Pool C: China, Poland, Czechia, Mexico
