Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics

Last updated

Rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics
Rugby sevens pictogram.svg
IOC CodeRU7
Governing body World Rugby
Events2 (men: 1; women: 1)
Summer Olympics
  • 1896
  • 1900
  • 1904
  • 1908
  • 1912
  • 1920
  • 1924
  • 1928
  • 1932
  • 1936
  • 1948
  • 1952
  • 1956
  • 1960
  • 1964
  • 1968
  • 1972
  • 1976
  • 1980
  • 1984
  • 1988
  • 1992
  • 1996
  • 2000

Rugby sevens was played at the Olympics for the first time at the 2016 Summer Olympics, with both men's and women's contests. It was added to the Olympics following the decision of the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009. The champions for the inaugural rugby sevens tournament in 2016 were Fiji for the men and Australia for the women. Prior to 2016, 15-a-side matches were played in 1900, 1908, 1920, and 1924.

Contents

Efforts to include rugby sevens in the Olympics

1932 bid

A Scottish man based in Canada, Mr. W. Hastie Cochrane, was unsuccessful in his bid to get rugby sevens into the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics: the IOC stated that the limit of max two exhibition sports cannot be exceeded, and American football and lacrosse had already been planned. [1] All three sports will be on the program in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics (American football will be flag football, and lacrosse will be six-a-side).

2012 bid

Rugby sevens was one of five sports—golf, karate, roller sports, rugby, and squash—that submitted a proposal to the IOC at the 117th IOC Session meeting in Singapore in 2005 for inclusion in the 2012 games. [2] The IOC stated that no sport would be added unless others were dropped. [3] However, the selection of two sports out of the five nominees as potential 2012 sports went to squash and karate, as determined by a voting procedure. [4]

2016 bid

Most recently, rugby sevens competed with golf for two available spaces in the 2016 Olympics. The final decision was made at the IOC Session in Copenhagen in October 2009: the IRB used a number of high-profile people and events to influence the IOC to include sevens at the 2016 games. In March 2009, two senior delegates from the IOC attended the 2009 Rugby World Cup Sevens in Dubai at the invitation of the IRB.

The event attracted 78,000 fans over the three days and saw Wales crowned Men’s World Champions, while Australia won the first ever Women's World Cup.

Along with the World Cup, the IRB enlisted some of rugby’s biggest names to assist in the bid. In March 2009, Jonah Lomu and Lawrence Dallaglio were announced as ambassadors for the bid, and in April 2009 Waisale Serevi was unveiled as an ambassador to coincide with the Oceania National Olympic Committees' general assembly. [5] May 2009 saw the IRB announce that they would drop the Rugby World Cup Sevens in order to improve the chances of the sport being included: the benefit of this move would be to make the Olympics the premier event in international rugby sevens.

As well as rugby sevens, baseball and softball (which were dropped from the Olympic programme in 2005), karate, squash, golf and roller sports (inline speed skating) were all seeking to be included in the 2016 Games and leaders of the seven sports made formal presentations to the IOC executive board in June 2009. [6] A new system was in place from this session, in which a sport now needs only a simple majority for inclusion, rather than the previous two-thirds majority. [7]

On 13 August 2009, it was announced that the IOC executive board was recommending rugby sevens for inclusion in the 2016 Olympic Games [7] and on 9 October 2009 the full IOC, at its 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, voted to include rugby sevens in the 2016 games.

Separate competitions for men and women will be held, using a similar format to the existing IRB Sevens World Series.

The IRB had originally proposed including 12 teams of each sex, the same number as other team ball sports events. During the IRB's presentation at the IOC Session, two IOC members asked why only 12 teams were included: IRB Chief Executive Mike Miller responded "We followed the guidance of the Executive Members of the IOC, but if the IOC feels we should have more teams, we will add more." [8]

Qualifying

Twelve rugby teams participate in the men’s and women’s competitions, qualifying through one of the four following routes:

Competition format

Both the men’s and women’s competition consist of two parts: pool play followed by a knockout round.

For pool play, the twelve teams are divided into three pools of four teams each. Each team plays the other three teams in the pool once.

At the end of pool play, the eight best teams—the top two from each group plus the two best third-place finishers—qualify for the quarterfinals, while the other four teams move to the semi-finals of a consolation bracket.

The knockout rounds proceed through the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final. The losers of the quarter-finals move to the semi-finals of a second consolation bracket, while the winners proceed to the medal semi-finals.

The winner of the final wins the gold medal, and the defeated finalist wins silver, while the two defeated semifinalists play a third-place playoff to determine who wins the bronze medal.

History

2016

Huriana Manuel (left) of New Zealand and Kelly Griffin (right) of United States. Team USA women's rugby sevens vs. New Zealand (28794965591).jpg
Huriana Manuel (left) of New Zealand and Kelly Griffin (right) of United States.

Though rugby had not been featured in the Olympics since the 1924 Summer Olympics in any form, the IOC chose to introduce the seven-a-side version of the sport to the games. The seven-a-side version, completed over two or three days, involving squads of no more than 12 players and consisting of multiple 14 minute matches in one stadium was seen as particularly suitable format for multi-sport events. [9] The sport featured for this Olympics and the following 2020 Summer Olympics. The sport was retained thereafter for 2024 in Paris and 2028 in Los Angeles, and is expected to be included in 2032 in Australia, a major rugby sevens nation.

The 2016 rugby competition took place in a temporary arena at Deodoro Stadium. The original plan was to stage the rugby matches at the São Januário Stadium. However this was scrapped because the club in charge of the venue missed the deadline to present its project. The Organising Committee considered Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, which would have had to have been shared with the athletics competitions. [10] It was later announced that the rugby competition will take place in a temporary arena at Deodoro Stadium, shared with the modern pentathlon. In April 2016 concerns were raised by the World Rugby head of competitions and performance, Mark Egan, about progress of construction at the temporary 15,000-seater stadium. [11]

The competition ran from the August 6–11, taking a maximum six days. [12] In the Men's tournament, pool A consisted of Fiji, Argentina, USA and Brazil. Pool B included South Africa, Australia, France and Spain while pool C consisted of New Zealand, Great Britain, Kenya and Japan. [13] In the Women's tournament pool A consisted of Australia, USA, Fiji and Colombia. Pool B included New Zealand, France, Spain and Kenya while pool C consisted of Canada, Great Britain, Brazil and Japan.

The women's saw Australia beating New Zealand 24–17 in the first final of women's rugby union at the Olympic Games. New Zealand took the early lead but Australia fought back and looked the most dangerous team throughout. The New Zealand defence was brutal early. Australia had the ball for the first two minutes but there was just no way through. New Zealand eventually found a way through after five minutes through Kayla McAlister. Australia almost struck back two minutes later but brutal one-on-one New Zealand defence prevented the try. Finally Australia scored in the corner. The ball looked to be grassed early and then bobble over the line without Australian player Emma Tonegato being in control. But the five points went onto the scoreboard. They went on and scored again right on halftime through Evania Pelite. Australia made an awful start to the second half, kicking the ball out on the full. But they soon recovered with tries to Ellia Green and Charlotte Caslick.

In the men's tournament, Fiji secured their first Olympic medal with emphatic 43–7 win over Great Britain, as South Africa won bronze with big win over Japan. Having never previously won an Olympic medal of any colour, Fiji won gold at the Deodoro Stadium by demolishing Britain in the final. The opening minute saw Osea Kolinisau left one and one with Tom Mitchell and although his fellow captain halted his progress, Kolinisau was still able to stretch and touch the ball down behind his head. Almost straight away, Fiji had a second try. Samisoni Viriviri muscled his way past two players before offloading to Jerry Tuwai to score under the posts. After that Britain were shell shocked and Fiji racked up a further five tries.

The introduction of rugby sevens, its traditional festival atmosphere and the victory of Fiji for their first ever Olympic medal, was seen as a significant success story of the Games, notwithstanding that rugby union was not considered a major sport in Brazil. [14]

2020

2024

Men's tournaments

Summary

YearHostFinalBronze medal match
Gold medalScoreSilver medalBronze medalScoreFourth place
2016 Flag of Brazil.svg
Rio de Janeiro
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
43–7Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Great Britain
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa
54–14Flag of Japan.svg
Japan
2020 Flag of Japan.svg
Tokyo
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
27–12Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
Flag of Argentina.svg
Argentina
17–12Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Great Britain
2024 Flag of France.svg
Paris
Flag of France.svg
France
28–7Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
Flag of South Africa.svg
South Africa
26–19Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 2103
2Flag of France.svg  France 1001
3Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain 0101
Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 0101
5Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa 0022
6Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina 0011
Totals (6 entries)3339

Participating nations

Legend

Women's tournaments

Summary

YearHostFinalBronze medal match
Gold medalScoreSilver medalBronze medalScoreFourth place
2016 Flag of Brazil.svg
Rio de Janeiro
Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia
24–17Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
Canada
33–10Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Great Britain
2020 Flag of Japan.svg
Tokyo
Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
26–12Flag of France.svg
France
Flag of Fiji.svg
Fiji
21–12Flag of the United Kingdom.svg
Great Britain
2024 Flag of France.svg
Paris
Flag of New Zealand.svg
New Zealand
19–12Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg
Canada
Flag of the United States.svg
United States
14–12Flag of Australia (converted).svg
Australia

Medal table

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand 2103
2Flag of Australia.svg  Australia 1001
3Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada 0112
4Flag of France.svg  France 0101
5Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji 0011
Flag of the United States.svg  United States 0011
Totals (6 entries)3339

Participating nations

Legend

  1. Russia's total includes one appearance as Russian Olympic Committee in 2020.

Combined medal table

Accurate as of the conclusion of the 2024 Olympics.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand  (NZL)2204
2Flag of Fiji.svg  Fiji  (FIJ)2114
3Flag of France.svg  France  (FRA)1102
4Flag of Australia.svg  Australia  (AUS)1001
5Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada  (CAN)0112
6Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  Great Britain  (GBR)0101
7Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa  (RSA)0022
8Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina  (ARG)0011
Flag of the United States.svg  United States  (USA)0011
Totals (9 entries)66618

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Rugby Championship</span> International rugby union competition

The Rugby Championship, formerly known as the Tri Nations Series (1996–2011), is an international rugby union competition contested annually by Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. These are traditionally the four highest ranked national teams in the Southern Hemisphere; the Six Nations is a similar tournament in the Northern Hemisphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Rugby</span> International governing body of rugby union and its variants

World Rugby is the governing body for the sport of rugby union. World Rugby organises the Rugby World Cup every four years, the sport's most recognised and most profitable competition. It also organises a number of other international competitions, such as the World Rugby Sevens Series, the Rugby World Cup Sevens, the World Under 20 Championship, and the Pacific Nations Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 Rugby World Cup</span> 6th Rugby World Cup

The 2007 Rugby World Cup was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by France from 7 September to 20 October. France won the hosting rights in 2003, beating a bid from England. The competition consisted of 48 matches over 44 days; 42 matches were played in 10 cities throughout France, as well as four in Cardiff, Wales, and two in Edinburgh, Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby sevens</span> 7-a-side team sport, sub-code of rugby union

Rugby sevens is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players playing seven-minute halves, instead of the usual 15 players playing 40-minute halves. Rugby sevens is administered by World Rugby, the body responsible for rugby union worldwide. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union at the Summer Olympics</span>

Rugby union has been a men's medal sport at the modern Summer Olympic Games, being played at four of the first seven competitions. The sport debuted at the 1900 Paris games where the gold medal was won by the host nation. It was subsequently featured at the London games in 1908, the Antwerp games in 1920 and the Paris games in 1924.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United States men's national rugby union team</span> Mens rugby union team

The United States men's national rugby union team, nicknamed the Eagles, represents the United States of America Rugby Football Union in men's international rugby union. USA Rugby is the national governing body for the sport of rugby union in the United States, and is a member of Rugby Americas North, one of six regional governing bodies under World Rugby. Until rugby returned to Olympic competition, with sevens at the 2016 Rio Games, the United States was the reigning Olympic rugby champion, having won gold at the 1920 and 1924 Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby World Cup Sevens</span> International rugby sevens tournament

Rugby World Cup Sevens (RWCS) is the quadrennial world championship of rugby sevens, a variant of rugby union. Organised by World Rugby, it currently consists of men's and women's tournaments, and is the highest level of competition in the sport outside of the Summer Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby union in Fiji</span>

Rugby union in Fiji is a popular team sport and is considered to be the national sport of the country. The sport was introduced to Fiji in the 1880s. Fiji is defined as a tier two rugby nation by World Rugby. The national team has competed at the Rugby World Cup and made it as far as the quarter-finals. Their sevens team is also noted for their success, winning multiple Olympic gold medals, World Rugby Sevens Series and Rugby World Cup Sevens.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Samoa national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Samoa national rugby sevens team, referred to as Samoa Sevens or Manu Samoa 7s, competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series. Representing the polynesian country of Samoa, with a population of about 202,000, the team competes against some of the wealthiest countries in the world. The Samoa sevens team is overseen by the Samoa Rugby Football Union, which oversees all of rugby union in Samoa.

Rugby union is the most popular sport in Fiji ; however, rugby league, netball, and association football are also widely played. Various forms of traditional boat racing and wrestling are also popular.

Rugby union in China is a growing sport; however, it is still not overly popular. China became affiliated to the International Rugby Board in 1997 and as of 1 July 2019, its women's XV side was ranked 24th and its men's XV side 80th in the world. Neither the women's team nor the men's team has yet qualified for a Women's Rugby World Cup or a men's Rugby World Cup. However, China has hopes of one day hosting the men's event, and World Rugby has indicated it supports taking the event there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2019 Rugby World Cup</span> Ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup

The 2019 Rugby World Cup was the ninth edition of the Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams. It was hosted in Japan from 20 September to 2 November in 12 venues all across the country. The opening match was played at Ajinomoto Stadium in Chōfu, Tokyo, with the final match being held at International Stadium Yokohama in Yokohama. This was the first time that the tournament had taken place in Asia and outside the traditional Tier 1 rugby nations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sport in Oceania</span>

Sport in Oceania varies from country to country. The most popular playing sport for men in Australia is Australian rules football, while for women is netball. Australian rules football is the most popular sport in terms of spectatorship and television ratings. Rugby union is the most popular sport among New Zealanders, while in Papua New Guinea rugby league is the most popular. Cricket is another popular sport throughout the Oceania region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics</span>

Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held over six days in August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. The 2016 Olympics was the debut for rugby sevens at the Summer Olympics, though rugby union was last played at the 1924 games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament</span> Rugby union tournament

The men's rugby sevens tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held in Brazil. It was hosted at the Deodoro Stadium, a temporary outdoor stadium constructed as part of the Deodoro Modern Pentathlon Park in Rio de Janeiro. The tournament was held from 9 August to 11 August 2016, starting with group matches before finishing with the medal ceremony on 11 August. The 2016 Games marked the first time that rugby sevens has been played at the Olympics, and the first time since 1924 that any form of rugby had been played at the Olympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rugby sevens at the 2016 Summer Olympics – Women's tournament</span> Rugby union tournament

The women's rugby sevens tournament at the 2016 Summer Olympics was held in Brazil, hosted at the Deodoro Stadium, a temporary outdoor stadium constructed as part of the Deodoro Modern Pentathlon Park in Rio de Janeiro. The tournament was held from 6 August to 8 August 2016, starting with group matches before finishing with the medal ceremony on 8 August.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Britain national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team

The Great Britain men's national rugby sevens team is the men's international rugby 7s team that is the representative team of Great Britain. The team competes in the annual World Rugby Sevens Series as well as the Olympic Games and European Games. Historically, Great Britain was represented in rugby 7s by England, Scotland and Wales but the inclusion of Rugby 7s at the Olympic and European Games, together with funding issues has resulted in the formation of a permanent combined team from 2023. The separate England, Scotland and Wales teams play in the Rugby World Cup Sevens and the Commonwealth Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Britain women's national rugby sevens team</span> Rugby team


The Great Britain national rugby sevens team is the women's Olympic representative team of Great Britain at the rugby sevens tournament at the Summer Olympic Games. The team played their first competitive match at the 2016 Summer Olympics after England finished in an Olympic qualifying place at the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series.

The 2016–17 World Rugby Women's Sevens Series was the fifth edition of the World Rugby Women's Sevens Series, an annual series of tournaments organised by World Rugby for women's national teams in rugby sevens.

The women's 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament was held at Luzhniki stadium and nearby Gorodok Stadium, both in Moscow. The tournament was held from 29 June to 30 June, with New Zealand beating Canada 29−12 at the final. The eight quarter-finalists qualified as core teams for the 2013–14 IRB Women's Sevens World Series.

References

  1. "Olympic try-outs". 21 August 2019.
  2. "Emirates Supports IRB Rugby Sevens 2012 Olympic Bid". asiatraveltips.com. Archived from the original on 2006-03-06. Retrieved 9 May 2006.
  3. "Five up for Games inclusion". BBC. 22 November 2004. Archived from the original on 2007-02-03. Retrieved 15 May 2006.
  4. "Singapore 2005: 2012 Olympic Sport Vote". olympic.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2006-05-16. Retrieved 15 May 2006.
  5. "Serevi joins the stars clamoring for Sevens' Olympic inclusion". ur7s.com. Archived from the original on 2009-06-09. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  6. "Golf among seven sports seeking inclusion in 2016 Games". ESPN. 25 April 2008. Archived from the original on 2009-02-22. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  7. 1 2 Wilson, Stephen (13 August 2009). "Golf, rugby backed by IOC board for 2016 Games". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 2011-06-04. Retrieved 14 August 2009.
  8. Caravelli, Al (23 October 2009). "Al Caravelli: "I can't stop smiling"". International Rugby Board. Archived from the original on 28 October 2009. Retrieved 7 November 2009.
  9. "Rugby". Rio 2016. Archived from the original on 1 August 2012. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  10. "Rio organizers forced to change 2016 rugby venue". sportsillustrated.cnn.com. 1 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2014-02-22. Retrieved 23 November 2012.
  11. Morgan, Liam (19 April 2016). "Rio 2016 sevens preparations "not exactly where we want to be", claims World Rugby official". Inside the Games. Archived from the original on 2016-04-22. Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  12. "Daily Competition Schedule" (PDF). Rio 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2015. Retrieved 21 May 2015.
  13. "Olympic sevens rugby: Great Britain face World Cup winners New Zealand". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 2016-07-02. Retrieved 28 June 2016.
  14. Hayes, Garry. "Success of Golf and Rugby at Rio 2016 Shows Olympics Must Continue to Innovate". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 2023-01-20.