Eight men’s and women’s teams left chasing Olympic dreams
- Quarter-final line-ups decided at World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco
- Men’s and women’s winners will qualify for the Olympic Games Paris 2024
- Women’s quarter-finals: China v Paraguay, Uganda v Czechia, Kenya v Argentina, Poland v Hong Kong China
- Men’s quarter-finals: South Africa v Uganda, Canada v Chile, Great Britain v Tonga, Spain v Hong Kong China
- Paris 2024 Olympic pools will be announced following the Repechage final on Sunday, watch the announcement here
- Finals day begins at 09:30 (GMT+2) on Sunday, fans can watch the action live on rugbypass.tv while tickets are available from www.monaco-rugby.com
Eight men’s and women’s teams are left in the hunt for the ultimate prize of a place at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 as the quarter-final line-ups were decided following a hotly contested second day of action at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco on Saturday.
In the presence of Their Serene Highnesses Prince Albert II and Princess Charlene of Monaco as well as World Athletics President Seb Coe, the 22 teams vying for the last two remaining tickets to Paris 2024 produced a great showcase of the speed, strength and skill that has made rugby sevens such a high demand event to watch.
Men’s top seeds South Africa will play Uganda in Sunday’s first quarter-final, while Great Britain take on Tonga, Spain play Hong Kong China and Canada face Chile.
In the women’s competition China will meet Paraguay, Uganda face Czechia, Kenya will play pool rivals Argentina for a second time in as many matches, and Poland take on Hong Kong China in Sunday’s quarter finals.
On a fascinating Saturday in Monaco, South Africa, Great Britain and Spain maintained their unbeaten records in the men’s competition – though Britain had to do it the hard way, surviving two late minutes of desperate defence with just six players on the pitch to beat Canada 17-12 in a thriller to finish top of Pool B.
Great Britain men’s captain Robbie Fergusson said: “It’s a case of job done so far. Three wins from three is what we wanted and gives us a bit of momentum going in to the knock out matches. It was always going to be a bit of a sticky group phase because everyone knows what it means and we’re three games away from the Olympics so we’re in to a big day on Sunday now tee’d up as well as possible. We’ll rest up tonight and fly into tomorrow now.
“This is what everyone’s season comes down to. The Olympics is the pinnacle and it comes only once every four years, so for it to come down to one day tomorrow is pretty ruthless but that’s sport at the end of the day.”
Earlier, Canada had come back from 14-0 down early in the first-half to beat China 33-14 in the two sides’ first meeting since 2010.
Tristan Leyds, brother of La Rochelle star Dillyn, scored the opening try in the final game of the day, made the second for Shilton Van Wyk, and kickstarted a length-of-the-pitch third, as South Africa made sure of a favourable quarter-final against eighth seed Uganda by going unbeaten in Pool A with a 26-7 win over previously unbeaten Chile.
The Blitzboks had earlier made sure of a place in the last eight with a 31-7 win over Tonga, Quewin Nortje running in his third and fourth tries of the repechage weekend in Monaco to add to his touchdowns against Mexico.
Veteran Pol Pla got Spain on the scoreboard as they finished top of Pool C with a 35-14 win over second-placed Hong Kong China, doubling down on their 38-0 win over Brazil on day one.
China’s women confirmed their tournament favourites status with a perfect run to the top of Pool F, backing up their 55-0 day one win over Mexico on day one with two more big wins on day two. Czechia were the only side to cross their tryline, but could not stop them running in seven touchdowns of their own in a 41-5 win, before they cruised to a 26-0 victory over fancied Poland.
Sunday’s match between Kenya and Argentina promises to be one to watch after the two sides played out a thrilling Pool D decider in the afternoon sun at Stade Louis II on Saturday.
First-half tries from Lona Amoli, Grace Auma and Agnes Nakuya set Uganda on the path to a hard-fought 17-14 victory over Hong Kong China in a pool-deciding battle of the previously unbeaten sides.
Uganda women’s captain Peace Lekuru said: “It has been our dream come true. We have managed to win three times. We are taking one game at a time. Hong Kong China always give us a hard time but this time around we kept our focus and we had our game plan and that’s the way we managed to get the win.
“Tomorrow is going to be a big day so please keep supporting us as we are coming stronger and stronger. It has been our dream to reach the Olympics and it would be a big thing for Uganda.”
Sunday’s action, which falls on Olympic Day – the global celebration of the Olympic Movement - will begin with the quarter-finals from 09:30 local time (GMT+2), before the semi-finals take place from 14:22 and the all-important women’s and men’s finals will kick off at 18:01 and 18:36 respectively when the rugby sevens Olympic line-up will be completed.
After the conclusion of the Repechage tournament, the Paris 2024 Olympic pools for rugby sevens will be announced alongside the pools for the wheelchair rugby competition at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. Register to watch the announcement at 20:00 (GMT+2) here.
Fans around the world can watch the Repechage action live on www.rugbypass.tv while a Video News Release from each day of action is available from World Rugby Media Zone.
Tickets for the event are available at www.monaco-rugby.com
