Last chance for Blitzboks as World Rugby confirm Olympic repechage details
SVNS Series heavyweights the Blitzboks have one last opportunity to book their place at the 2024 Paris Olympics with World Rugby confirming the location for the sevens repechage tournament.
Stade Louis II in Monaco will host 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams on June 21-23 to decide the final qualifiers for the highly anticipated Paris Summer Games next July.
Harbouring ambitions of representing their nation on the world’s biggest sporting stage, it all comes down to this. With 22 of the 24 sevens teams confirmed for Paris, there are no more second chances.
Along with Dubai SVNS champions South Africa, SVNS Series regulars Canada, Great Britain and Spain will channel a sense of rugby desperation as they look to make their Olympic dreams a reality.
Brazil, Chile, China, Hong Kong China, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Tonga and Uganda are also in the mix on the men’s side of the drawn.
The women’s tournament will see Argentina, China, Czechia, Hong Kong China, Kenya, Jamacia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Poland, Samoa and Uganda go head-to-head in the sovereign city-state.
“The inclusion of rugby sevens in the Olympic Games at Rio 2016 had a profound effect on the sport, attracting an estimated 30 million new fans globally. Rugby sevens is set to bring a party atmosphere to the start of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with music, a vibrant and colourful crowd alongside the incredible skill, speed and passion on show from some of the best athletes in the world on the pitch,” a World Rugby statement reads.
“The Olympic Final Qualification Tournament comes at a hugely exciting time for rugby sevens. The relaunched HSBC SVNS Series got off to an incredible start in Dubai and Cape Town, before progressing to Perth in January. The new series, culminating in a winner-takes-all Grand Final in Madrid, provides a clear pathway for rugby sevens teams across the world to regular competition between the best teams and the ultimate platform of the Olympic Games.”
All six World Rugby regions are represented in the already qualified 11 men’s and 11 women’s teams. France, New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia are off to the Games in the men’s draw.
Six regional qualifiers have also booked their place, those being Uruguay, Ireland, USA, Kenya, Japan and Oceania Sevens qualifiers Samoa.
The Olympic-bound nations in the women’s competition are New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, USA, Brazil, Canada, Great Britain, South Africa, Fiji and Japan.
“The Olympic Games are the biggest multi-sport event in the world and a stage like no other for rugby players to share with other incredible athletes from across the globe,” World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said.
“The prize of being able to compete for your country for an Olympic medal is an incredibly precious one and I am sure we will see some intense and passionate world-class rugby in Monaco as teams compete for those highly coveted final qualification places to achieve their Olympic dreams.
“We know from Rugby World Cup 2023 what an amazing rugby show Paris can put on and the Paris 2024 Olympics Games will be no different with knowledgeable and passionate fans filling the stadium.
“It is a hugely exciting time for rugby sevens, with the launch of HSBC SVNS we are showing what our sport can offer not just on the pitch but through music, live experiences, food and of course, the incredible abilities of some of the fittest, strongest and most impressive athletes on the planet.
“The future is very bright for rugby sevens and I would like to wish all the best to those competing to join us at one of the biggest shows on earth at the Olympic Games Paris 2024.”
Following the success of the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, sevens is expected to capture the interest and intrigue of the sporting world once again at the Paris Games.
Rugby sevens will kick off the Olympic Games at Paris’ Stade de France on 24 July 2024.
Comments on RugbyPass
The URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
1 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
3 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
3 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
3 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to comments