Favorite in men’s and women’s tournaments. Fiji and Australia want to emerge. New Zealand aims for two goals – OA Sport

The second Olympic rugby seven adventure begins on Monday, July 26, which after its debut at Rio 2016 will return to the field in Tokyo With a men’s and women’s tournament to celebrate Italian Nights until July 31. 24 teams compete for the two most valuable medals. But who are the candidates and who are the potential outsiders?

Let’s start with Men’s Championship. title holder Fiji They can’t fail to be considered a medalist even in this round and the pacifist players are dreaming of an exciting debut five years after Brazil. But their team is definitely there new Zeland, who was after a few years on the cunning in 2020 is clearly leading the world championship before stopping due to the pandemic. It looks like All Blacks 7s might be the obligatory favorite of the evening, but it shouldn’t be underestimated South Africa Very renewable, but after Rio 2016 she won the world championship twice and followed New Zealand a year ago.

In the field femaleRather, to dream of appearing isAustralia. The Australians are historically one of the strongest teams in the world, and they have an experienced group that has always been one of the groups to beat in recent years. Even for Australians, the greatest danger comes from them new Zeland. The New Zealanders topped the 2020 World Championships and after Rio won three out of four (Australia won the other) and are the favorites on the eve of the match. The third inconvenience, just like five years ago, the Canada Who dreams of winning the Rio 2016 bronze?

And potential strangers? In the men’s field, the alternative options for the golden trio are Australia, Great Britain, France and the United States above all, even if Argentina are the big surprise in Tokyo 2021 and it wouldn’t be absurd to find them in the semi-finals at least. . In the women’s field, on the other hand, the United States, France and Russia could play on the podium.

Photo: Mike Lee – KLC Rugby World Pictures