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LONG READ Paris Olympics: Men's rugby sevens team-by-team guide

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Jamie Lyall By Jamie Lyall
Paris Olympics: Men's rugby sevens team-by-team guide
By 
5 months ago

After years of preparation and months of simmering excitement, the leading lights of rugby sevens descend upon Paris for the Olympic Games. Stade de France will be a glorious backdrop of colour and noise, and in the end, a champion will be crowned. But who will stand atop the podium on Saturday, 27 July?

ARGENTINA

If you tried to cook up the perfect rugby sevens team in a laboratory, what brewed in your test tubes would look awfully like this Argentina squad. Los Pumas are a devilish blend of athleticism, power and technical nous. On the HSBC SVNS Series, the Argentines are kings of the skies, plundering restarts, owning the ball and, such is the importance of possession in sevens, the vast majority of games. They rampaged to the overall league title this year – at one point winning three tournaments on the spin – before losing a gripping Madrid grand final to France. Empowered by truculent coach Santiago Gomez Cora, Argentina’s fire-and-brimstone ferocity is simply too hot for many foes to handle.

There are, though, a few gnawing anxieties. World player of the year Rodrigo Isgro will miss all three pool matches as he serves a suspension for a dangerous shot in the Madrid showpiece. Isgro has officially been selected as a travelling reserve. Marcos Moneta sat out the final three events with a broken fibula and how Los Pumas will yearn for their prolific flying machine to return in full sail. Argentina’s bronze medal in Tokyo sparked wild jubilation, but their programme has rocketed since and they will have eyes only for gold.

Player to watch: Marcos Moneta. Fascinating to see how ‘The Money Man’ fares on his return to the big stage, particularly since he will be shorn of his chief provider. So many Moneta scores are created by Isgro’s brilliance. Argentina have many other threats, of course, but Moneta will be pivotal.

AUSTRALIA

Very little change in the Australian squad of the past couple of years, with the notable omission of Michael Hooper, whose immense effort to unpick a lifetime’s worth of XVs behaviour always seemed too great an ask. The second coming of Mark Nawaqanitawase is a head-turner. Nawaqanitawase has been sought-after by several codes but the lure of the Olympics has kept him in union for at least a few more weeks before he joins the Sydney Roosters of the NRL. He has played top-level sevens before but he must hit the ground running. Maurice Longbottom is back from injury and Dietrich Roache remains a class act.

Player to watch: Maurice Longbottom. The ‘Wizard of Oz’ missed the Madrid denouement but will bring his box of tricks to the French capital. The sevens universe has few wilier customers.

FIJI

A season of rancour and malcontent for the reigning champions, but they got their house in order to end the campaign in ominously good form. Gold medallists in 2016 and 2021, Fiji covet this tournament above all else. A higher power seems to grip them when the Olympic torch flickers on the horizon. They were untouchable in Rio and unbreakable in Tokyo.

The Fijians have endured unsightly problems of late. Ben Gollings was sacked as coach only four months ago. The England great endured a very public fallout with Jerry Tuwai, a champion at both Games and captain in the latter. Now, 2016 skipper Osea Kolinisau is in charge, and after a year-long absence, Tuwai returned to pull strings beautifully in Madrid and help Fiji to bronze.

There’s stardust everywhere you look, from Ponipate ‘Longstride’ Loganimasi to kicker supreme Iowane Teba and seasoned Waisea Nacuqu. Kolinisau has also brought in XVs rapier Selestino Ravutaumada, who set the rugby world ablaze in 2023, from the Fijian Drua. The Olympics will be just the coach’s third tournament at the helm, but this is Fiji and the Games we’re talking about. Expect the sensational.

Player to watch: Terio Veilawa. Diminutive but deadly. To watch his effortless, flowing movement and sumptuous array of skills is to be transported back to the days of Waisale Serevi. Veilawa is Fiji’s metronome, often called upon from the bench to bamboozle ailing opponents. A player of immaculate talents forged in rugby heaven.

FRANCE

This was supposed to be a year of destiny for French rugby, with a home World Cup and a Paris Olympic Games book-ending the season. Some say the nation is still in mourning after the Boks dumped the XVs boys out in the quarter-finals. Gold here would certainly salve some wounds. The French public remain in-thrall to Antoine Dupont, and The Great One’s touch of genius inspired them to glory in Madrid. France are much more than Dupont, though. Jefferson Joseph is a huge threat; Stephen Parez a terrific creator, while Theo Forner and Rayyan Rebbadj are the pace merchants.

Player to watch: Antoine Dupont. Obvious, isn’t it? Your eyes can’t help but be yanked in his direction. Perhaps no other player could flit as seamlessly between two increasingly divergent disciplines. Somehow, Dupont is conditioned for the unrelenting physical toil and constant technical demands of sevens and still make his influence tell. Most of the big French SVNS moments this year have had Dupont at their core and he was deservedly named rookie of the year.

IRELAND

Rewind to Monaco 2021 and the euphoria erupting across Stade Louis II, as Ireland secured passage to their first Olympic Games. Tokyo was not a vintage tournament – a solitary pool stage win consigned them to the rankings play-offs – but Ireland have built impressively since. Argentina pipped them to the league title by a paltry two points this year. In Terry Kennedy, they have the SVNS leading try scorer and former world player of the year. Gallus Jordan Conroy provides yet more gas, Harry McNulty the size and streetsmarts, and Hugo Lennox the orchestrating. Ireland also boast a certain Hugo Keenan; the full-back was a sprightly sevens regular long before becoming a Leinster Galactico and Grand Slam champion. He and Connacht’s muscular Andrew Smith have delivered clutch plays since switching back from XVs.

Player to watch: Jordan Conroy. Loves the camera and the camera loves him. Beefed up to well over 90KG but it hasn’t cost him his trademark scorching speed. A quiet end to the season surely means a big Olympics is brewing for this box-office player who revels in the spotlight.

 JAPAN

Dead-last and relegated in 2023, and failing even to make the top four of the Challenger Series this year, Japan are rank outsiders. Coached by former England captain Simon Amor, the Brave Blossoms wound up ninth in sevens’ second tier. Amor has acknowledged Japan must play a high-risk, high-octane style to stand any chance of shocking the big boys in Paris. Speed has always been at the heart of Japanese rugby and Amor’s hope is the entertainment factor endears them to a capacity crowd. With South Africa in their pool, what chance a sequel to the 2015 Miracle of Brighton?

Player to watch: Taiga Ishida. A quicksilver running threat capable of carrying out Amor’s blueprint.

KENYA

The Shujaa Pride’s promotion back to the SVNS Series after a punishing year on the Challenger was one of the most poignant moments of the season. Kenya were desolate and ragged on the Twickenham pitch when Canada sent them down last June. Some of their big-name players – few bigger than Alvin ‘Buffa’ Otieno – looked elsewhere for their rugby fix. Now they have come roaring back with the raucous and intrepid Kenyan followers behind them. Languid, flamboyant and downright dangerous, they paint the sevens canvas with daubs of exuberant colour. Kenya will be spearheaded by rugged co-captains Tony Omondi and Vince Onyala, with Brian Tanga running the cutter in midfield and Patrick Odongo racking up the tries on the edge. Kevin Wekesa and Herman Humwa are big specimens with broad skillsets.

Player to watch: John Okoth. Had an outstanding Madrid competition and embodies everything which is great about Kenyan rugby. A power athlete with a V8 engine melded to soft hands and an agile brain.

NEW ZEALAND

In their first season since the departure of coach Clark Laidlaw, New Zealand performed in fits and starts. There were grim performances in Perth and Los Angeles, but titles in Hong Kong and Singapore, the final two events before Madrid, where Argentina had their number in the semi-final.

Scott Curry and Regan Ware play at their third Games, although 37-year-old sevens legend Tim Mikkelson makes the plane only as a travelling reserve having been sidelined with injury. Exuberant first-timers Leroy Carter, Tepaea Cook-Savage and this year’s breakthrough star, Fehi Fineanganofo, are highlight-reel machines.

Gold has eluded the All Black Sevens but they are among the leading contenders to win the lot in Paris.

Player to watch: Akuila Rokolisoa. New Zealand’s game-breaker. Formerly a trainee electrician, the Fiji-born sorcerer seems to operate on a different plane to everyone else. The feet of a ballet dancer, speed of a fighter jet and sheer mastery of ball skills. Just as likely to run 90m for a try-saving tackle as he is to stroke home a touchline conversion.

SAMOA

This has been a brutal year for Muliagatele Brian Lima and his charges. Once a powerhouse on the sevens circuit, they descended into a barely recognisable gaggle by the Madrid finale. It was no surprise to see an organised USA team consign them to relegation and who knows what that could mean for the funding of their programme. Lima has been criticised for picking too many overseas-based players rather than trusting on-island talent. He has dealt with a substantial injury list and lost last year’s record try scorer Vaa Apelu Maliko to a more lucrative XVs contract in France. But on too many occasions, his team lacked a discernible style or cohesion, and were desperately short of the attacking accuracy which characterised the great Samoan sides of yesteryear.

Lima has a much stronger squad available for Paris. Vaovasa Afa Su’a, Paul Scanlan and Tom Maiava are fit again. Alamanda Motuga is back from Moana Pasifika duty. It’s a tall order but this is Manu Samoa’s first Olympic appearance and only a fool would write off a nation with such pride in their game, rich rugby affinity and capacity for the extraordinary.

Player to watch: Paul Scanlan. Apelu Maliko returned from France to play in Madrid, though could not make a significant impact. Taunu’u Nieulevaea is a mighty cog but with Samoa lacking fluency and direction, Scanlan’s performance will be crucial.

SOUTH AFRICA

The Blitzboks clinched the final spot at the big dance by sinking Great Britain in the Monaco final. South Africa have a sound sevens history, but the fact they were in the repechage at all shows how little tangible success they’ve enjoyed over the past two years. Like Fiji, the Springbok Sevens changed their coach mid-season, with long-time assistant and former captain Philip Snyman succeeding Sandile Ngcobo. Christie Grobbelaar will be their metre-eater in close quarters, with Quewin Nortje dazzling in his debut year on the series and veteran Rosko Specman still conjuring moments of Spec-magic eight years after his bronze medal in Rio.

Player to watch: Quewin Nortje. Well in the mix for a rookie of the season award, Nortje was South Africa’s leading scorer with 18 in 30 matches. The 21-year-old has all the tools to become a giant of the sport.

URUGUAY

One of the great success stories in a rapidly developing South American market. Los Teros won admirers at the Rugby World Cup, but their sevens team has been quietly motoring for several years. A settled squad, they won core nation SVNS status in 2022, lost it in the London play-off last June, before swiftly claiming it back as the Challenger Series’ top dogs. They were easily the best team in that event and proved it over and over.

Uruguay have been drawn in a grim pool containing Fiji, France and USA, but Diego Ardao’s troops are absolutely capable of upsetting the odds on their Olympic debut.

Player to watch: Baltazar Amaya. Missed the Madrid play-off with a smashed face, but will be fighting fit in France. A star of the XVs and sevens sides.

USA

An underwhelming year, albeit relegation never felt likely even when facing a Madrid shootout. USA were punted into the bottom four by Great Britain’s remarkable heroics in Singapore, but a series of below-par performances had already sown the seeds. Can they arrive at the Olympic party? Mike ‘Geezer’ Friday is one of world rugby’s most respected and experienced sevens minds and will have his troops revving. And this will be iconic Perry Baker’s last shot at a medal a month on from his 38th birthday. Baker may be nearly 40, yet he still has the devastating speed to slice defences asunder.

Player to watch: Malacchi Esdale. A thoroughbred athlete and consistent try-scoring performer for USA. Was a travelling reserve in Tokyo but will be a major player this time around.

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