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Seven rugby sevens stars to watch out for at 2020 Tokyo Olympics
After five years of waiting, the Tokyo Olympics are finally underway, with rugby sevens set to make its second successive appearance at the Games.
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The men’s competition will get up and running on July 26 before the women’s competition kicks off three days later, with Fiji and Australia looking to fight off stern competition to preserve their Olympic champion status.
In anticipation of rugby’s return to the Olympics, we have identified seven sevens stars to watch out for as rugby take centre stage at Tokyo Stadium next week.
Samu Kerevi (Australia men)
One of the biggest rugby names at the Tokyo Olympics, former Wallabies midfielder Samu Kerevi has transitioned to the abbreviated form of the game in pursuit of a gold medal.
Having spent the last two years plying his trade in the Top League for Suntory Sungoliath, the 27-year-old will don the yellow jersey of Australia once again after having last represented the country at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
A physical presence in the midfield, expect Kerevi to be a damaging prospect when given the chance to attack with ball in hand.
Semi Radradra (Fiji men)
Another XV-a-side star, Semi Radradra has returned to the Fijian sevens set-up after three-year hiatus as he dominated the rugby world.
Renowned as one of the game’s best attacking talents, the 29-year-old has pedigree in the sevens circuit, having first debuted for Fiji prior to his rugby league stint in 2011 before returning to the World Sevens Series and the Sevens World Cup in 2018.
Radradra played a starring role for the Flying Fijians at the 2019 World Cup and has been a crucial figure for the Bristol Bears due to his pace and power, both of which will be vital if Fiji are to replicate their gold medal exploits in Tokyo.
Portia Woodman (New Zealand women)
Arguably the best women’s rugby player on the planet, Portia Woodman returns to the Olympics as she aims to go one place better than her silver medal finish at Rio 2016.
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Back in action after a lengthy injury lay-off, the 30-year-old comes into the Tokyo Olympics as one of rugby’s most decorated female players with Women’s World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Sevens World Cup titles to her name.
A barnstorming athlete, Woodman packs plenty of power into her 1.70m and 70kg frame, which will be utilised heavily if the Black Ferns Sevens are to live up to their tags as gold medal favourites.
The All Blacks are reportedly set to play in Washington DC for the first time ever in a test match that is expected to earn NZR millions in revenue. #AllBlacks https://t.co/4xvciNyZVt
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 24, 2021
Charlotte Caslick (Australia women)
One of Australia’s most experienced operators, Charlotte Caslick is back at the Olympics to double down on the gold medal success she and her teammates earned at Rio 2016.
A former international representative in touch rugby who switched to rugby league to play in the women’s NRL last year, the 26-year-old will spearhead Australia’s tilt for back-to-back gold medals.
A five-eighth and fullback for the Sydney Roosters, expect Caslick to act as a playmaker to put her Australian teammates into space throughout the duration of the competition.
Perry Baker (USA men)
Among the fastest players in the rugby world, Perry Baker is set to light up the Tokyo Olympics as the United States target their first medal rugby since 1924.
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Of an American football background, the 35-year-old has terrorised defences so much in sevens that he has been named World Rugby Sevens Player of the Year in 2017 and 2018.
With such electric out-and-out pace, Baker is primed to work in tandem with fellow speedster Carlin Isles as the USA looks to deliver on its highly-touted potential.
Greg O’Shea (Ireland men)
Although he has played sevens for Ireland since 2017, Greg O’Shea rose to prominence as a reality TV star when he won Love Island two years ago.
The 26-year-old’s success on British television has amassed him a following of more than 1 million people on Instagram, ranking him as one of rugby’s most popular social media stars alongside the likes of Dan Carter and Sonny Bill Williams.
On the rugby field, O’Shea has become a regular for the Irish as they qualified for both the World Sevens Series and the Olympic Games, so don’t be surprised to see the him ruffle some feathers in Group C.
A former Maori All Blacks star is “excited” to represent Japan at the Tokyo Olympics next week following an eligibility saga last year. #Tokyo2020https://t.co/djBIyqHeSa
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 24, 2021
Siviwe Soyizwapi (South Africa men)
Blessed with pace and power, Siviwe Soyizwapi’s importance to South Africa’s medal chances has been reflected by his appointment as captain of the Blitzboks for the Tokyo Olympics.
The 28-year-old started his career in the XV-a-side game in the Currie Cup and Super Rugby with the Kings, but hasn’t looked back since converting to sevens full-time in 2016.
With Rosko Specman or Seabelo Senatla absent from South Africa’s, Soyizwapi will be one of the key figures if the Blitzboks are to return to South Africa with another medal after their bronze medal success at Rio 2016.
Comments on RugbyPass
Both nations missed a great opportunity to book a game that would have had a lot of interest from around the world. I understand these games can’t be organised in 5 minutes but they should have found a way to make it happen. I don’t think Wales are ducking anyone but it’s a bad look haha.
3 Go to commentsIt will be fascinating to see the effect that Jo Yapp has. If they can compete with Canada and give BFs a run for their money that will be progress
1 Go to commentsFollowing his dream and putting in the work. Go well young fella!
3 Go to commentsPerhaps filling Twickenham is one of Mitchell’s KPIs. I doubt whether both September matches will be at Twickenham on consecutive weekends. I would take the BF one to a large provincial stadium so as not to give them the advantage and experience of playing at Twickenham before a large crowd prior to the RWC.
1 Go to commentsvery unfortunate for Kitshoff, but big opportunity potentially for Nché to prove he is genuinely the best loosehead in the world, rather than just a specialist finisher. Presuming that if Kitshoff is out, it will also give Steenekamp a chance to come into the 23? Or are others likely to be ahead of him?
1 Go to commentsA long held question in popular culture asks if art imitates life or does the latter influence the former? Over this 6 nations I can ask the same question of the media influencing the thoughts of its audience or vice versa. Nobody wants to see cricket scores in rugby, as a spectacle it is not sustainable. With so many articles about England’s procession and lack of competition it feeds the epicaricacy of many looking for an opportunity to pounce. England are not the first team to dominate nor does it happen only in rugby, think Federer, Nadal, Red Bull or Mercedes, Manchester Utd, Australia in tests and World Cups. Instead of celebrating the achievements why find reasons to falsify it pointing towards larger playing pool, professional for a longer period or mitigate with the lack of growth in other nations. Can we not enjoy it while it is here and know that it won’t last for ever, others coveting what England have will soon take the crown, ask the aforementioned?
6 Go to commentsShame he won’t turn out for the Netherlands now they’re improving. U20s are Euro champs and in the U20 Trophy this year. The senior sides gets better every year too.
3 Go to commentsWill rugbypass tv be showing these games?
1 Go to commentsWell where do you start, the fact that England have a professional domestic league and Ireland’s is fully amatuer, that they have fully seperated professional squads at Fifteens and Sevens (7’s thinly disguised as GB), and Ireland have fully pro Sevens squad who loan some players back to the Semi-Professional Fifteens squad (moved from amateur for only a year or so) for a few games at 6N & RWC’s. The Women’s games is a shambles, and is at risk of killing itself by pushing for professionalism when the market isn’t really there to support it outside one or two countnries..
6 Go to commentsWayne Smith's input didn't have as much impact on the last final as Davison's red card for Thompson. England were 14 points up and flying when that happened.
6 Go to commentsBilly's been playing consistently well for 2 - 3 seasons now and deserves a look in at the top level. Ioane and ALB are still first choice but there needs to be injury cover and succession. His partnership with Jordie gives him first dibs you'd think. Go the Hurricanes.
3 Go to commentsIt’s not up to Wales to support Georgian Rugby. That’s up to International Rugby and Georgia. I sympathise with Georgia’s decent attempt to create this fixture. But for Wales the proposed match up is just a potential stick to beat them with and a potential big psychological blow that young Welsh team doesn’t need. (I’m Irish BTW.)
3 Go to commentsCale certainly looks great in space, but as you say, he has struggled in contact. At 23 years old, turning 24 this year, he should be close to full physical maturity and yet there exists a considerable gap in the power and physicality required for international rugby. Weight doesn’t automatically equate to power and physicality either. Can he go from a player who’s being physically dominated in Super rugby to physically dominating in international rugby in 1 or 2 years? That’s a big ask but he may end up being a late bloomer.
28 Go to commentsIf rugby wants to remain interesting in the AI era then it will need to work on changing the rules. AI will reduce the tactical advantage of smart game plans, will neutralize primary attacking weapons, and will move rugby from a being a game of inches to a game of millimetres. It will be about sheer athleticism and technique,about avoiding mistakes, and about referees. Many fans will find that boring. The answer is to add creative degrees of freedom to the game. The 50-22 is an example. But we can have fun inventing others, like the right to add more players for X minutes per game, or the equivalent of the 2-point conversion in American football, the ability to call a 12-player scrum, etc. Not saying these are great ideas, but making the point that the more of these alternatives you allow, the less AI will be able to lock down high-probability strategies. This is not because AI does not have the compute power, but because it has more choices and has less data, or less-specific data. That will take time and debate, but big, positive and immediate impact could be in the area of ref/TMO assistance. The technology is easily good enough today to detect forward passes, not-straight lineouts, offside at breakdown/scrum/lineout, obstruction, early/late tackles, and a lot of other things. WR should be ultra aggressive in doing this, as it will really help in an area in which the game is really struggling. In the long run there needs to be substantial creativity applied to the rules. Without that AI (along with all of the pro innovations) will turn rugby into a bash fest.
24 Go to commentsSouth Africa rarely play Ireland and France on these tours. Mostly, England, Scotland and Wales. I wonder why
2 Go to commentsIt was a let’s-see-what-you're-made-of type of a game. The Bulls do look good when the opposition allows them to, but Munster shut them down, and they could not find a way through. Jake should be very worried about their chances in the competition.
2 Go to commentsHats off to Fabian for a very impressive journey to date. Is it as ‘uniquely unlikely’ as Rugby Pass suggests, given Anton Segner’s journey at the Blues?
3 Go to commentsSad that this was not confirmed. When administrators talk about expanding the game they evidently don’t include pathways to the top tier of rugby for teams outside of the old boys club. Rugby deserves better, and certainly Georgia does.
3 Go to commentsLions might take him on if they move on Van Rooyen but I doubt he will want to go back, might consider it a step backwards for himself. Sharks would take him on but if Plumtree goes on to win the challenge cup they will keep him on. Also sharks showing some promising signs recently. Stormers and Bulls are stable and Springboks are already filled up. Quality coach though, interesting to see where he ends up
1 Go to commentsAnd the person responsible for creating a culture of accountability is?
3 Go to comments