BLITZBOKS IN TOUGH POOL FOR PARIS OLYMPICS
The pools for the Paris Olympics 2024 have been revealed by World Rugby.
The men’s rugby sevens competition will take place from 24 to 27 July followed by their female counterparts participating from 28 to 30 July.
There will be 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams competing among three pools of four teams each. The countries were chosen based on their rankings due to their performances over the last two years.
This included their performances at other World Rugby-sanctioned tournaments, the Challenger Series, as well as the JSBC SVNS Series.
In the men’s competition, South Africa will be facing very tough competition in pool A: New Zealand, Ireland and Japan.
Poll B will see Argentina, Australia, Kenya and Samoa battle it out while Pool C consists of Fiji, France, USA and Uruguay.
The women’s pool consists of New Zealand, Fiji, Canada and China in pool A; Australia, Ireland, Great Britain and South Africa in pool B; and France, USA, Japan and Brazil in pool C.
Sir Bill Beaumont, World Rugby Chairman, said he believes rugby would have gained even more fans after the Olympics.
“In one month, our sport will have the honour of kicking off Paris 2024 in style with an exciting and spectacular brand of rugby that will excite the hundreds of thousands of fans in Stade de France and capture millions more hearts and minds of those watching around the world.”
Image credit: Olympics