The final squads have been confirmed by all 21 teams competing in the Olympic Repechage tournament, which will be played in Monaco this weekend in front of 5,000 lucky fans.
Stade Louis II will play host to 43 matches across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with the final three places at Tokyo 2020 on the line.
Of those, one will go to the winner of the nine-team men’s competition, while two of the 12 women’s squads that have arrived in Monaco will book their ticket to Japan.
France’s men’s and women’s teams have both made the short journey to the principality, and will be among the favourites to secure their place at the Games.
VIEW FINAL WOMEN’S SQUADS HERE >>
VIEW FINAL MEN’S SQUADS HERE >>
The country’s men were sixth in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series standings prior to the cancellation of last season’s competition, ahead of both Ireland and Samoa.
France’s squad for the repechage has been boosted by the inclusion of Gabin Villière, who won the first of his four test caps for Les Bleus during the Autumn Nations Cup.
Ireland boast the prolific Jordan Conroy, who scored more World Series tries than any other player in 2020, while former champions Samoa finished sixth in 2019.
Their Pacific Island neighbours, Tonga’s preparations for the repechage were hit heavily by COVID-19 restrictions. However, they have been able to name a squad that includes Rugby World Cup winner Malakai Fekitoa.
“I am very proud to have been apart (sic) of the best team in the world [the All Blacks],” Fekitoa wrote on Twitter, “but at the same time I want to contribute something great to Tonga, my country, my homeland and where my heart belongs.”
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE OLYMPIC REPECHAGE TOURNAMENT >>
France’s women, meanwhile, finished just one place outside of the automatic Olympic qualification places on the World Series 2019 and were fourth in the abbreviated 2020 standings.
Les Bleues’ squad contains several players with Rugby World Cup experience, including Camille Grassineau, Chloé Pelle and Jade Ulutule.
Kazakhstan and Russia narrowly missed out on qualification at the Olympic Repechage tournament in 2016. The two teams have called up six and five players respectively who featured in Dublin, while Kazakh coach Anna Yakovleva captained her country in Ireland.
The action gets underway at 18:00 local time (GMT +2) on Friday, when Zimbabwe face Mexico in the men’s tournament. The first match of the women’s repechage also features Mexico, who kick off against Argentina at 10:58 local time (GMT +2) on Saturday.
VIEW FULL MATCH DAY SCHEDULE HERE >>
All the action from Monaco will be available to watch on World Rugby's digital platforms. For full details, click here >>
In addition, viewers in the following territories will be able to watch the action on television: France (France.TV), Chile (CDO Chile), Spain (Rugby Challenge Spain), Russia (Match TV) and Argentina (Depor TV).
