2021 Olympics Fan Guide: Everything you need to know about rugby sevens

Rugby sevens is still relatively new to the Olympics but it could easily become your new summer obsession. Here’s everything you need to know to dive in during the 2021 Olympics.

After making a successful debut at the 2016 Rio Olympics, rugby sevens is back for some fast-paced action at the 2020 Tokyo Games. For those that are familiar with rugby union, the rules differ a little while the gameplay differs significantly. We’ll go over those differences, plus look at some of the biggest storylines and a few players and teams to watch.

2021 Olympics: Rugby sevens rules in 280 characters

As previously mentioned, there are some key differences between rugby sevens and rugby union. Most drastically, each team only fields seven players at a time rather than the 15v15 setup from union, hence the name sevens. Despite having a smaller number of players, the action still takes place on the same size field.

With more room to work with, the rate of play is cranked up drastically. And even with the games being much shorter, with two seven-minute halves as opposed to two 40-minute halves, the pace of play brings about higher scores. There’s also less room for specialists with the smaller number of players on the field at a time. Well-rounded players thrive in this format.

Other than the size and time differences, all of the basic rules of the game are the same as rugby union. The only major difference in gameplay comes with set pieces, which are traditionally taken as place kicks in union but are instead drop kicks in sevens.

2021 Olympics: Rugby sevens teams to know

On the men’s side of things, Fiji absolutely mopped the floor with the competition at the inaugural rugby sevens Olympic tournament in 2016. They won their six contests by an average of 16 points per game, including a 36-point victory over Great Britain in the championship match. The Gold medal was the country’s first medal in any event at the Summer Olympics.

In the most recent full-season world rankings, Fiji finished first (with the United States close behind in second!), but the “Flying Fijians” only finished third in the 2020 rankings because the season was cancelled in June with four of 10 events still to go. The two teams ranked ahead of them, New Zealand and South Africa (Bronze in 2016), should be contenders to the throne in Tokyo.

Australia and New Zealand are the usual suspects on the women’s side. The Oceanic frenemies were the top-ranked teams when the season ended in 2020 and played a hard-fought Gold Medal match in 2016, in which Australia prevailed. Canada, the Bronze medalists in 2016 and third-ranked when the 2020 campaign was halted, should also be in contention for the title. And in an interesting twist, the United States were also second place on the women’s side during the last full-length season in 2019.

2021 Olympics: The elevator pitch for rugby sevens

Have you ever accidentally caught rugby in the middle of the night on ESPN2 and thought ‘this is cool, but I wish it was a little more freewheeling and a little less gladiatorial’? That’s exactly what you’re getting with rugby sevens. It takes all the fun elements of union and distills it down into a fast and furious outing. Watching it play out live feels sort of like watching the annual Army-Navy college football rivalry game, but injected with about 115 percent more speed. Just pitches up and down the field between 5-foot-7, versatile athletes. It’s a sight to behold.

For fans in the United States specifically, and without sounding like a typically obnoxious American sporting fan, this will be one of the only team-based ball sports where Team USA aren’t the favorites like they will be in men’s and women’s basketball, women’s soccer, softball, and arguably baseball. It will be exciting watch a US team that is capable of medaling, but also will have its back against the wall looking to improve on fifth- (for the women) and ninth-place finishes (for the men) in 2016.