“We were able to do that, and around the whole squad there is a wealth of experience of different kinds of natures that will hopefully all come together”.
Advertisement
Rugby last featured in the Games 92 years ago, but the sevens code will make its bow at Deodoro Stadium, north of Rio, when France and Spain kick off a 12-team women’s tournament.
“With the squad we’ve got we’re really confident going into these games”, Clark told rugby.com. Add to that the fact that Rugby Sevens is one of the highest intensity, edge of your seat sports in the world, and you have a something very special. On Saturday, she’ll be an Olympian.
Team GB rugby sevens wing Jasmine Joyce says her side are aiming for an historic gold in Rio as they prepare to take on hosts Brazil on Saturday.
And they’re far from done.
Rugby was previously an Olympic sport and was last contested at Paris 1924 when the United States emerged with the gold medal. “The opportunity to promote our message with such world-class athletes is fantastic for us and is key to the success of the Keep Rugby Clean campaign”. “We have got the tools to come to that party and if we play to our ability it does not matter what the opposition do”.
Other countries competing at Rio 2016 have been preparing their squads since past year, but Britain’s men’s and women’s coaches Simon Amor and Simon Middleton have only been able to work with their combined groups since the end of the respective 2015-16 Sevens World Series competitions. But the New Zealanders said the Olympics is the biggest prize of the year and their preparations were geared toward it.
Is Australia a medal chance?
For Ryan, who has guided Fiji 7s to back-to-back World Series titles, getting asked for multiple selfies when popping to the shop for milk is common place.
Green is set to become one of the more popular members of Australia’s Rio contingent in the Games village, and not just because of her friendly personality. “The fitness levels are up where they should be and the knowledge is too”.
The other two sides in the group are expected to progress in the top two positions, yet after each finishing on 74 points this season it could be tough to separate them.
Despite never reaching the World Cup semifinals in the traditional 15-a-side game, Fijians have always been the masters of the abbreviated sevens version due to their size, speed and flair. Each game is just 14 minutes long (20 in the final) and action-packed – tackle, pass, sprint, repeat – from start to finish.
When the International Olympic Committee announced that the Rugby Sevens will be part of this year’s Rio Olympics, the New Zealand All Blacks have one thing in mind and that is the chance to show the world that they are the best and they have come to conquer the gold medal. They accomplished them all. “I think a great many countries actually conducted trials for their 15-a-side players to try to get in the sevens squad, and they didn’t make it”.
HSBC, for instance, has identified the United States as the growth market for rugby sevens and expect the Olympics to spark massive interest in the game stateside, particularly among women, and help the Americans become a world-class sevens-playing nation.
Speaking as Team GB get set to take on hosts Brazil at the Deodoro Stadium on Saturday, Scarratt, a Women’s Rugby World Cup victor with England in 2014, said: “I’m delighted to have the opportunity to support the Keep Rugby Clean campaign ahead of the Olympic Games”.
World Rugby CEO Brett Gosper revealed that two-thirds of tickets have been sold for the six-day tournament, which was voted onto the Olympic program in 2009 after lobbying by a team including Pichot and former All Black great Jonah Lomu, who died from kidney disease last November at the age of 40. He topped the tackle count in the 2015-16 season and, when Fiji was still recovering from the devastating Cyclone Winston, Kolinisau dedicated the Las Vegas stop on the world series circuit in March to the people, delivering the title with a player-of-the-match performance in the final.
Speaking from Rio, Fiji 7s Manager, Ropate Kauvesi says they have gone straight to business.
And after beating the likes of the gold-medal favourites, Fiji and South Africa, the Australians have shown that, on their day, they have the talent to mix it up with the best.
Advertisement
“It’s really an honor to be on this team”, Doyle said.
