The Fiji men's rugby sevens team will play Great Britain, Japan, and Canada in their pool at the Tokyo Olympics.
Fiji huddle together during the Los Angeles leg of the World Sevens Series. Photo: Mike Lee - KLC fotos for World Rugby
Fiji beat both Japan and Great Britain to claim the countries first ever Olympic medal at Rio in 2016, while Olympic debutants Canada claimed bronze at the last HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series event, which took place in Vancouver last year.
Current Rugby World Cup Sevens and World Series champions New Zealand and Australia, who met in the final of the last Series event in Vancouver, will play in Pool A alongside Argentina, who finished sixth in Rio and Olympic debutants Korea, who qualified for Tokyo by winning the Asian qualification tournament with an extra-time 'golden point' try to overcome Hong Kong.
Exciting Pools announced for Tokyo Olympic Games. pic.twitter.com/uQ1GqVfBUJ
— Fiji Rugby Union (@fijirugby) June 28, 2021
Having both achieved direct Olympic qualification by finishing in the top four of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series in 2019, South Africa and USA will meet in Pool C, joining Kenya, who qualified courtesy of their first Rugby Africa men's sevens title since 2015, and Olympic debutants Ireland, who secured the final spot over France in the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco earlier this month.
The Fiji women's team have been grouped with bronze medallists Canada, France and Brazil, in the only pool without an Olympic debutant. Fijiana overcame Papua New Guinea to qualify from Oceania, France qualified for Tokyo via the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco earlier this month, while Brazil qualified for Tokyo with a victory over Colombia in the South American qualifier.
The Fiji women's sevens team celebrate qualifying for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Photo: Oceania Rugby
The Fiji men's and women's teams are in good spirits after their Olympic warm-up in the PacificAus Sport Oceania Sevens in Queensland at the weekend, with the men finished unbeaten, defeating the All Black Seven's 17-7 in their final match, and Fijiana taking away three wins and three losses, including an upset over the Olympic champions Australia.
The rugby sevens event, which made its debut in 2016, will be held from July 26-31 at Tokyo Stadium.
