Tokyo Olympic Games 2020 | Everything you need to know about the Olympic Rugby Sevens tournament

• What: Olympic Rugby Tournament 7
• Where: Tokyo Stadium
• When: Monday August 26 to Saturday July 31
• Where to see it: Eurosport 1 & discovery +
• Dutch teams: none
• Favorites: South Africa, England, Fiji (men), Australia, New Zealand (women)

Rugby Sevens

Rugby sevens is different from regular rugby. In rugby sevens, a seven-person team plays a match consisting of two seven-minute halves. In “normal” rugby, teams of 15 are played in two 40-minute halves. In countries where rugby is popular, there are teams that focus specifically on rugby sevens. The rules of the game are almost identical to those of Rugby Union, except that the scrum consists of three players, and the kickoff is played. The send after a try is taken by the team that scored the try.

The men’s tournament

New Zealand are the current world champions and Fiji are the reigning Olympic champions in rugby sevens. The country, located to the west of Australia, has won all of its matches in Rio and crushed the British 43-7 in the final. It is the very first Olympic medal of the small archipelago.

The women’s tournament

The women’s Olympic tournament five years ago in Rio was a prey for Australians. Coach John Manenti’s side did not lose a match in Brazil and were too strong for neighboring New Zealand in the final. The women’s world championships have only been held since 2009, and New Zealand have been too good to compete in all three editions. So it seems very likely that Australia or New Zealand will win the gold medal in Tokyo.

Program

WHERE ARE YOU LOOKING?

A subscription to discovery + sport (including access to TLC and Discovery ID channels) costs 5.99 euros per month and via this platform you broadcast all the sports and all the medals won during the Olympic Games live. There’s also the Medal Zone daily gearshift schedule on Eurosport 1 so you don’t miss out on any of the action.