Pool draws revealed for Irish sevens teams at Paris Olympics

The Ireland men’s team – who finished second overall in this year’s SVNS Series – have been drawn in the Pool A along with top seed New Zealand, Japan and South Africa who qualified last weekend from the World Rugby sevens repechage in Monaco.

This will be the Irish men’s team’s second appearance at an Olympic Games following their qualification three years ago for Tokyo.

The Ireland women’s team – who will compete in the Olympic Games for the first time – have been drawn in Pool B with 2016 Rio Olympic gold medallists and 2024 SVNS Grand Final champions Australia along with Great Britain and Olympic debutants South Africa.

In Pool A, reigning Olympic champions New Zealand are drawn alongside Fiji, Canada and newly qualified China. 2020 Olympic silver medallists France are in Pool C with the USA, Japan and Brazil.

Elsewhere in the men’s draw, hosts France with their star player Antoine Dupont – who won the SVNS Grand Final earlier this month – are in Pool C along with two-time Olympic champions Fiji, USA and debutants Uruguay. SVNS league winners Argentina are in Pool B with Australia, Samoa and Kenya.

The men’s competition will take place from July 24-27 with the women’s tournament on July 28-30.

The men’s gold medal match on July 27 will be the first team sport gold medal of the Games to be awarded. The schedule of games will be confirmed shortly.

“We are thrilled to unveil the rugby sevens Olympic pools for what promises to be an epic, coming-of-age tournament for our sport in the French capital,” said Bill Beaumont, World Rugby Chairman.

“In one month’s time, 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.

“Rugby sevens is a fantastic engine to grow our sport and on its third Olympic appearance is already proving to be one of the attractions of the Games with record enthusiasm for tickets, mouth-watering rivalries and two strong French national teams hoping to achieve their Olympic dreams on home soil.

“We know from Rugby World Cup 2023 what an amazing rugby show Paris can put on and the Olympic Games will be no different with knowledgeable and passionate fans expected to fill the stadium and create an incredible atmosphere for the players and teams to showcase their unique combination of speed, strength and sensational skills.”