Who will win the first rugby sevens men’s title?
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The women will lead rugby’s charge into the Games, with hosts Brazil taking on Team GB at 4pm (Irish time) on tomorrow.
“Unfortunately the game of sevens is ruthless”. Traditional rugby has 13 or 15 a side.
The mention of the USA and Kenya might give cause for a double take until you take into account the Americans beat New Zealand on four occasions during the 2015/16 world series, while the African nation won the Singapore leg.
For those who didn’t grow up in those countries, rugby knowledge is limited.
Players move the ball by running with it or passing, although there’s no forward passing.
Ebner has been through the lows and highs: Losing his father, winning a Super Bowl and now making the Olympic team.
It is also the first time any kind of women’s rugby has been at the tournament.
“When we say we’re a rugby team, people know what we’re talking about now”, Kelly Russell, a team veteran from Bolton, Ont., said.
Unsurprisingly then, the American selection comprised mainly of college students from Northern California. His father Dennis, who is sadly not alive to see his son’s potential career high, was a travelling reserve in the javelin at the 1948 and 1952 Games.
Meanwhile, World Rugby is encouraging fans to get involved, celebrate rugby’s inclusion and join the conversation on social media using the #Rugby and #RoadToRio hashtags, while tickets are still available to see the sevens stars in action via the Rio 2016 website. “There are more players on the field and it’s a longer game”. The pool games will come thick and fast after that with the knock-outs coming on 7 and 8 August. So it’s just such an honor to have Jillion on our team. “If you win, you come back as heroes; if you lose, it’s something else”.
So will the hitting.
The Yomiuri Shimbun Ano Kuwai’s fate took a sharp turn in pursuit of her Olympic dream – switching from discus throwing to rugby. So many athletes who could represent America internationally play football instead, so the American rugby team is quite weak. A pitch invasion then followed, with police doing their best to protect the teams as spectators broke down the tall wire fence that had been put up before the game. But I think the intangible thing is just to make sure that everyone is playing their role and to just play together as a team.
Griffin: For me, I’m really excited for rugby to get more exposure.
“We’ve played in big stadiums before, we’ve deal with the press”, she said.
(Left) Bui Baravilala makes a pass during practice.
Teammate Claire Allen, 31, describes how she worked out to build her physique. She’s a cancer survivor and is playing six years after breaking her neck in a match. “We are expecting the unexpected”.
Potter says the injury was a fluke. “We have special training and work on prevention”. “Anything can happen – that’s the appeal of the sevens”, Kuwai said.
“That’s sort of the attitude you take into every tournament”, Foley told Grandstand. I’ve started getting noticed by national team coaches. His dad’s message: Don’t play football at Ohio State just for the sake of saying that you did it. “The secret is out, we’re on the hunt and we’re true medal contenders”. Canada and England were equal on points in third place.
Isles is considered the fast man in rugby.
Competition for the women begins Saturday and wraps up a mere two days later.
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In both the men’s and women’s tournaments, twelve teams are broken up into three pools. History’s limbs and tentacles enticingly beckon Rugby Sevens.
