The Olympic 7s rugby competition kicks off Wednesday with the men's pools on the pitch.
Rugby and soccer both start before Friday's Opening Ceremonies in order to squeeze everything in. This is potentially a good thing for the rugby competition because it's the only thing going on, so mainstream coverage (NBC/Peacock in the USA) will spend a lot of time on it.
Fans will get a bit more exposure to the game, and might become more long-term fans.
Who knows? Might happen.
Here are the pools:
Pool A: New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland, Japan
Pool B: Argentina, Australia, Samoa, Kenya
Pool C: France, Fiji, USA, Uruguay
The USA is in a very tough pool with the two-time defending gold medal-winners in Fiji, and the host country in France. But there is a path to the quarterfinals even if they lose those games. See the video:
So even if a team goes 0-2 on Day One, the quarterfinals are in play on Day Two, and if the quarterfinals are in play, the semis are in play.
