INTERESTING COMPETITION AT THE REPECHAGE AS TEAMS AIM FOR OLYMPIC
Twelve women’s teams and ten men’s teams will compete for the final two women’s and one men’s places at the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics. 21 of the 24 teams already qualified for the Olympic rugby sevens competition, the remaining two women’s and one men’s steams to participate at the Olympic Games in Tokyo will be determined at the Stade Louis II in Monaco on 19-20 June 2020.
As players welfare are always at the forefront of the game, World Rugby has approved withdrawal requests from Brazil and China men’s teams due to the ongoing challenges presented by the global COVID-19 pandemic meaning the Repechage draw will involve 12 women’s and 10 men’s teams.
Organisers have confirmed that 5,000 fans will be able to watch all the action from the second and third days of competition inside the iconic Stade Louis II, subject to maintenance of the current COVID environment. Fans will be required to wear face masks and respect social distancing.
The women’s competition will feature Argentina, Colombia, France, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Kazakhstan, Madagascar, Mexico, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Samoa and Tunisia. The men’s tournament will involve Chile, France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Mexico, Samoa, Tonga, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
The top two teams in each pool, plus the two third-placed teams with the highest point totals will qualify for the knockout stages of the competition. As there are two Olympic qualification places available for women, the Repechage will feature two rounds of knockout games with the final round featuring four teams competing in two matches where both winners gain Olympic qualification and claim their tickets to Tokyo.
For the men’s competition, the 10 teams are drawn into two pools of five teams, including one team from each of the five pre-determined bands. Teams will play against all four opponents in their pools with the top two teams from each pool progressing through to the knockout stages, culminating in the final with the winner booking their place on the plane to Tokyo.
