Olympic Rugby Sevens schedule announced

World Rugby said the Stade de France was expected to be packed with 69,000 fans for each match.
photo: Photo sports

With just over two weeks to go, World Rugby and Paris 2024 have released their Olympic Rugby Sevens Schedule.

The sevens tournament begins two days before the opening ceremony, with the men’s matches taking place on July 24, 25 and 27, and the women’s competition from July 28 to 30.

The men’s final on July 27 will produce the first team gold medal of this Olympics.

Twelve teams will be divided into three groups of four teams to compete in both men’s and women’s sevens rugby.

Twenty-four teams, representing all six regions of World Rugby, qualified for Paris through the HSBC SVNS Series, regional qualifiers and the World Rugby Sevens Resurrection Tournament.

Oceania’s Australia and Samoa will start in the men’s competition, with hosts France taking on the United States and two-time Olympic gold medallists Fiji taking on debutant Uruguay.

Ireland and Great Britain will begin the women’s competition on July 28, while defending champions New Zealand will face challenger champions China.

Twenty-four teams, representing all six regions of World Rugby, qualified for Paris through the HSBC SVNS Series, regional qualifiers and the World Rugby Sevens Resurrection Tournament.

Paris 2024 is expected to become rugby’s senior championship on the Olympic stage, World Rugby said in a statement on Monday.

The 2023 Rugby World Cup final will be held at the Stade de France, with a full house of 69,000 fans expected for each match, it has been claimed.

World Rugby chief executive Alan Gilpin said: “With just 16 days until rugby sevens kicks off the Olympic Games, the announcement of the tournament schedule is another exciting step in the journey towards the Paris Games.

“Players, teams and fans can now mark their calendars and prepare fully for six days of exciting competition, which will be a fast-paced, action-packed tournament where some of the world’s best athletes will showcase the speed, power and skill of rugby sevens to a massive global audience.

“Following the debut of rugby sevens at Rio 2016 and the COVID-affected Tokyo Games, we expect Paris 2024 to be the sport’s ‘mature’ Olympics – the biggest and best yet – with all venues at the iconic Stade de France expected to be packed with passionate fans, providing a great opportunity to further enhance rugby’s global appeal.”

“The atmosphere inside the Stade de France will be very intense,” said Aurélie Merle, executive director of the Paris 2024 sports competition.

“The announcement of the tournament schedule has given us even more anticipation, with so many exciting games to look forward to.

“With less than three weeks to go, the stage is set and everything is in place for the athletes to enjoy an unparalleled experience and to thrill millions of fans in France and around the world.”