Day one of the final leg of the World Rugby Sevens series is over and there’s been plenty of play in London. If the All Blacks 7s are now sporting champions for 2023, in fact, I’m poised to grab two spots in the 2024 Olympics. A busy day as Argentina-Ireland, Samoa-Great Britain, Fiji-Australia and New Zealand-France qualified for the quarter-finals.
In the pool a All eyes were on South Africa, who were called upon to qualify for the play-offs in order to go on to claim a very difficult place at Paris 2024. And for Blitzbokke it went poorly straight away, with 15-19 against Great Britain, while Zealand edged out handily. Over USA 35-17. In the second round of matches, South Africa are just 26-26 with the USA and say goodbye to direct qualification for Paris 2024, while the All Blacks 7 have the better of GB for 20-5. The United States begins the third round of the match with a 21-19 loss also to Great Britain, but New Zealand’s clear victory over South Africa by a score of 31-21 was decisive closing the doors to Blitzbokke in the playoffs.
In the pool bHowever, Fiji was called upon to find the qualifiers, which mathematically deserved Olympic qualification. The Peacemakers began by defeating Ireland 33-12, with Argentina, who had already qualified in Paris, beating Japan 43-12. In the second round, Ireland bounced back, defeating the Japanese 40-7, while South America beat Fiji 40-12. Hence the decisive confrontation in the latest round of meetings between Fiji and Japan. And peaceful control, they won with a score of 54-7, and they go to the playoffs and qualify mathematically for Paris 2024. Then Argentina falls with Ireland 12-14, but the Argentines and Fijians advance by points difference.
In the pool c Two teams competing for the Olympics clashed. Australia, currently fifth with 125 points, and Samoa next with 116 points (same as South Africa). Australia and Samoa got off to a great start, with the Wallabies 7s defeating Spain 33-12, and Samoa edging out a mighty France 28-21. In the second round of matches, Samoa allowed themselves a starting appearance, defeating Australia 14-24 and booking a place in the play-offs. In the other match, France defeated Spain 35-21. Three of this kind for Samoa, which in turn qualified for the quarter-finals from first place in the group, which beat Spain 40-17, while Australia overcame the knockout rounds by defeating France 26-12.
In the Playoff poolFinally, nothing was played at the Olympic level, but permanence in the tournament was at stake. The first matches saw Kenya beat Canada 24-19, while Uruguay proved to be an advanced team by defeating Tonga 15-12. In the second round of matches, Kenya received a comeback by defeating Tonga 38-26, while Canada surprised Uruguay by winning 21-19. The last two matches will be played tomorrow.
Photo: Mike Lee – KLC World Rugby Pictures
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