The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee have announced the revised competition schedule for the Tokyo Olympic Games, including the rugby competition.

The Games, of course, were postponed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic with the Opening Ceremony now set for 23 July 2021.

In a reverse from the previous edition in Rio, the men’s rugby sevens competition will be held first, whereas in Rio de Janeiro the women took the field first. 

The men's tournament will run from July 26 to July 28, with the the women’s competition following on July 29-31 July. The women's champion, therefore, will be crowned on Super Saturday, one of the bigger days of the 17-day event.

The organizing committee has re-confirmed that there will be two sessions on each competition day. The morning sessions will kick-off at 09:00 JST, which is 8PM ET the previous day and finish at 12:00 JST, which is 11PM ET the previousday.

The evening sessions will begin at 16:30 JST (3:30AM ET) and end at either 19:00 or 19:30 JST (6AM ET). The medal matches will take place in the evening sessions.

As per the pre-postponement schedule, the times have been selected in the interests of player welfare to avoid the peak heat of Japanese summer time and maximize fan atmosphere and engagement.

View the full schedule here >>

The Olympic rugby sevens will take place at the iconic Tokyo Stadium, which hosted the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Both the USA men and women qualified for the Olympics, and each did it without having to play in a qualification tournament because both teams finished in the top four of the Sevens World Series in the 2018-19 season.