Rugby and golf will make their grand return to the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games – the first time these sports have been a part of the Olympics since the early 1900s.
Advertisement
When Gosper, Bernard Lapasset, the then chairman of World Rugby, and Mark Egan, the head of competitions and performance, met with Paes previous year when things were behind schedule, the mayor reassured them.
Conversions in a sevens match must be taken within 40 seconds of a try being scored, while in the 15-a-side game it is 60 seconds – and kickers are only allowed to drop kick the conversion to ensure that the game never slows down. The spearhead of the Blitzbokke back line, Senatla also made 72 clean breaks during the campaign, more than any other player.
It’s fast and physical, with more emphasis on speed and passing the ball (always backward) than heavy contact.
“Our national member unions have embraced the Olympic opportunity, and participation has doubled to 7.73 million, with dramatic growth in new and emerging rugby nations”.
“Whenever I am feeling that my legs are burning, I just look down at my wrist and remind myself that my mum is a fighter”: Ellia Green.
The game was played as far back in 1883, born in Melrose, Scotland, and was voted into the Summer Olympic program on Friday, 9 October, 2009 by the International Olympic Committee.
“So we had a couple of good performances and a couple of times where we let ourselves down but hopefully all that hard work and practise ends in a good a result”.
To make things better for the Williams family, Sonny Bill will be accompanied to Rio by his sister Niall, 28, who was a New Zealand touch rugby player for several years before switching to sevens last year.
Despite being part of the All Blacks squads that claimed back-to-back World Cups, on home soil in New Zealand and then England, Williams said an Olympic gold medal would outrank those achievements.
Chief among the teams coming for the Australians will be their neighbors New Zealand, who won the first three world series crowns. The prospect is a realistic one as Fiji’s men enter the Games as HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series champions. I’ve seen it in Colombia, Mexico, many countries.
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. Canada and England were equal on points in third place.
Twelve men’s teams and 12 women’s teams will compete at Rio. As it catches on, there’ll be more professionals, and increased competition.
Advertisement
It’s not a small list but with all the team’s best players, including Ghislaine Landry and Ashley Steacy, healthy and playing together for the first time all season, it just might be possible. “Everything we trained for and played for can subconsciously be aimed around beating them”, Australia’s Alicia Quirk said.
