Confirmed: When Blitzboks will play first game at Paris Olympics

Earlier this year World Rugby revealed the pools for the Paris Olympics 2024 sevens competitions, with the men’s event set to take place from 24-27 July, while the women’s tournament follows on 28-30 July.

The men’s gold medal match on 27 July will see the first team sport gold medal of the Games awarded.

The Blitzboks have been drawn in a challenging pool, and it’s now been confirmed that they will face Ireland on 24 July in their opening game (kick off at 17:30 SA time). On the same day, they will also face New Zealand at 21:30.

On Thursday, 25 July the South African side will then face Japan at 16:00.

VIEW FIXTURES >>
VIEW POOLS >>

The 12 men’s and 12 women’s teams were allocated to three pools of four teams based on their rankings due to performances over the last two years of the HSBC SVNS Series, Challenger Series and other World Rugby-sanctioned tournaments.

BLITZBOKS DRAWN IN POOL A AT PARIS OLYMPICS

Hosts France and their superstar Antoine Dupont will start their Olympic campaign in Pool C together with two-time Olympic champions Fiji, USA and debutants Uruguay.

SVNS league winners Argentina will also face tough competition in Pool B where they will meet Australia, Samoa and Kenya while Pool A sees top seed New Zealand grouped with Ireland, Japan and the Blitzboks, who qualified for the Paris Olympics from the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco.

The competition format sees all teams play three pool matches with eight teams qualifying for the quarter-finals in the evening session of the second day of competition, before the third day sees the semi-finals and the all-important medal matches as Olympic dreams are realised and broken.

Rugby sevens is expected to be one of the highlights of Paris 2024, following the resounding success of Rugby World Cup 2023 in France. All the action will take place at Stade de France, which was the venue for the opening match and final of Rugby World Cup 2023.

All six World Rugby regions are represented among the 24 teams who secured their spots in Paris via the HSBC SVNS Series, regional qualification competitions and the World Rugby Sevens Repechage.

World Rugby Chief Executive Alan Gilpin said: “The unveiling of the match schedule is another exciting step on the road to Paris with just 16 days to go until rugby sevens kicks off the Olympic Games. The players, teams and fans can now mark their calendars and fine tune their preparations for what promises to be an incredible six days of fast paced, all action drama as some of the best athletes in the world showcase the speed, strength and skill of rugby sevens to a huge worldwide audience.

“Following rugby sevens’ Olympic debut at Rio 2016 and the Covid affected Games in Tokyo, we are anticipating Paris 2024 to be the sport’s  ‘coming of age’ Games – the biggest and best yet – with a full house of passionate fans expected across all sessions at the iconic Stade de Fance, representing a golden opportunity to further grow rugby’s global appeal.”

Lots to look forward to

Paris 2024 Executive Director of Sport Competitions Aurélie Merle added: “Rugby sevens has the honour of kicking off the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and we know the atmosphere will be electric inside the Stade de France, with full and passionate crowds for every session in a country that truly loves rugby.

“The release of the competition schedule raises our anticipation even higher, with so many tantalising match-ups to look forward to. With less than three weeks to go, the stage is set and everything is ready for the athletes to enjoy an unrivalled experience and to thrill all those millions of fans watching in France and around the world.”