Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session Three

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Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session Three

We now know who the quarter-finalists are and there were some heartbreakingly small margins. But let’s begin with the form sides. Three teams are unbeaten now, heading into the quarters – and they’ve all had slightly different ways of setting up their next matches.

Firstly, reigning Olympic champions Fiji men were made to scrap for their two wins all of yesterday, but in their final pool match with GB (who also hadn’t lost – or conceded a try yet!) they rediscovered their irresistible best. And GB had played some superb evasive, offloading, fast-paced sevens, but here they met the masters. It finished 33-7 to the Fijians, who scored five tries on the way to the win, with a double for Asaeli Tuivuaka.

Those Kiwis are also rolling. Three wins from three for them, but they were made to really work for it against their Tasman rivals, Australia. The Aussies were leading 12-0 at the break, but New Zealand came back with vital scores from Dylan Collier and Andrew Knewstubb – the latter’s two on-the-money conversions the difference. Both go through to the quarters.

The Blitzboks too, are through unbeaten.

The South Africans put on a clinic of hold-your-nerve sevens. It was all square at HT against the USA, 5-5, but in drizzling conditions, the Boks pressed for errors and smothered the US. They won, 17-12.

It was heartbreak for Ireland, who needed to win by more than seven points to progress. Their opponents, Kenya, needed to win. Canada, who defeated Japan 36-12 in their last pool game, watched on hoping they could squeeze through – they needed Ireland to win by seven points or fewer.

The match ended Ireland 12-7 Kenya, after a late Vincent Onyala consolation score. Both sides are out of medal contention and thankful Canada are into the quarters by the narrowest of margins.

And there was one final blowout, as Argentina hammered South Korea 56-0 to book their spot.

So we know know who are into the hunt for medals. The quarter-finals are:

New Zealand – Canada
GB – USA
South Africa – Argentina
Fiji – Australia

Who have you got going through to the semis? Let us know on social media!

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session Two

It’s two wins from two for Team GB men, but not only have they scored 58 points in their opening two games against Canada and hosts Japan, but they haven’t conceded a single point yet either.

Harry Glover was to the fore in GB’s 34-0 win in round two, putting on a super offloading display. Next up for them is Fiji tomorrow – the team who beat them to gold in Rio back in 2016.

The Flying Fijians also have two wins from two, though they haven’t had everything their own way. They beat Canada 28-14 in their second match, laying on four tries.

New Zealand won their second match too, beating Argentina 35-14 – and Ngarohi McGarvey-Black is currently the top points scorer in these games, with 18 (two tries, four conversions). Next up for the Kiwis is Australia tomorrow. The Aussies bounced back to beat South Korea 42-5. 

Meanwhile, USA have a second win after seeing off Ireland 19-17 – managing to cling on after racing to a 12-0 lead.

Finally, the Blitzboks managed to stave off Kenya, after taking a 14-0 lead in the first half, doing enough in the second to hold onto a 14-5 win.

The ties to look out form tomorrow between the undefeated sides are:
GB v Fiji
South Africa v USA

New Zealand are also undefeated, and they face Australia who have one win to their names.

The third sessions begins at 1am UK and Ireland time.

Olympic Men’s Sevens – Session One

We are only one session into the Olympic Men’s Sevens and we have our first big statement of intent of the Games. And no, we’re not talking about the incredible remote control car that delivered the match ball by propelling it over some tiny rugby posts!

The performance of the first session goes to Argentina, who defeated Australia 29-19. The South Americans showed they are up for improving on their fine displays at Rio 2016, putting in a five-try display against the Aussies (and holding on after being 24-0 up). That man we highlighted before the Games kicked off, Matías Osadczuk, was amongst the scorers – as was Samu Kerevi for the Australians. 

Related: Olympics Rugby Men’s Team Guide

In the opening tie of the sessions, defending Olympic champions Fiji were made to fight right to the end by Japan. The tournament hosts led 14-12 at half-time and even pushed out to 19-12, with two scores from Waisea Nacuqu needed to see the bookies’ favourites through.

There was also strong strong start from Team GB men, who defeated Canada 24-0 in their Pool B lash. And the try-machine that is Dan Norton was at it again, dotting down twice. They will face Japan later on in the day, in session two.

New Zealand also routed South Korea 50-5, the Blitzboks of South Africa defeated Ireland 33-14 and the United States of America overcame Kenya, 19-14. They needed some timely errors from the Kenyans and their captain Madison Hughes to score a late winner. Speedster Carlin Isles was also in on the scoring act.

Keep your eyes on rugbyworld.com as we will keep you updated on all the results as the Olympic Games progress through the sessions and into the medal matches.

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