GRR on X  GRR on Facebook GRR in Instagram GRR Vimeo Library GRR on YouTube RuggaMatrix America Podcasts Support GRR on Patreon

Men's Olympic Rugby: Where We Are After Day One

irish rugby tours

Men's Olympic Rugby: Where We Are After Day One

Argentina's Lautaro Bazan Velez flies in the match-winning try against Australia. Photo Mike Lee - KLC fotos for World Rugby

We're getting ready for Day Two of the three-day Men's Olympic 7s in Tokyo and here's where everything stands right now.

Every team that is 2-0, has clinched a spot in the quarterfinals. So the USA will play South Africa at 10:30PM ET tonight (Live stream here starting at 8PM ET>>) is just to see who wins the pool. South Africa's results against Kenya and Ireland — 14-5 and 33-15 — indicate that the Blitzbokke might be in better position to win that game.

But having to tough it out has its benefits. 

New Zealand has looked dominant and Great Britain has too, albeit against some not-so-strong competition. 

Round 1 Scores:
Fiji 24 Japan 19
Great Britain 24 Canada 0
New Zealand 50 Korea 5
Argentina 29 Australia 19
South Africa 33 Ireland 14
USA 19 Kenya 14

Round 2 Scores:
Great Britain 34 Japan 0
Fiji 28 Canada 14
New Zealand 35 Argentina 14
Australia 42 Korea 5
USA 19 Ireland 17
South Africa 14 Kenya 5

USA Escapes Kenya Scare in Olympic Opener

Men's Olympic Rugby: Where We Are After Day One

The Standings

Pool A W L T PF PA PD Pts
New Zealand 2 0 0 85 19 66 6
Australia 1 1 0 61 34 27 4
Argentina 1 1 0 43 54 -11 4
Republic of Korea 0 2 0 10 92 -82 2
               
Pool B W L T PF PA PD Pts
Great Britain 2 0 0 58 0 58 6
Fiji 2 0 0 52 33 19 6
Canada 0 2 0 14 52 -38 2
Japan 0 2 0 19 58 -39 2
               
Pool C W L T PF PA PD Pts
South Africa 2 0 0 47 19 28 6
United States 2 0 0 38 31 7 6
Kenya 0 2 0 19 33 -14 2
Ireland 0 2 0 31 52 -21 2

The Quarterfinalists

New Zealand hasn't clinched 1st in their pool, but a win or tie over Australia, OR a loss by 19 or less coupled with Argentina not being able to beat Korea by more than 58, will do it. 

The top two from each pool go through do Argentina, which is virtually guaranteed a win over Korea, should be in at 2-1. So the other quarterfinalists will be the best third-place teams. Probably what will happen is that Australia will lose to New Zealand but have a positive points difference (the main tiebreaker for the third-place teams). 

That means that to make the top eight for Canada or Japan in Pool B, one of them will have to win by about 40, which won't happen.

That also means that it is very likely that the winner between Kenya and Ireland will go through. Kenya, for example, if they win by seven, will have a PD of -7, which should be far better than the PD for either Japan or Canada.

Nightmare scenario for Kenya and Ireland? A tie. Then they both are playing for 9th.

And Onward

The USA vs South Africa game is the final Round 3 game of the morning (Japan time). After we figure all the seeds out, the placement rounds kick off about four hours and thirty-five minutes after the Eagles and Blitzbokke hit the showers.

First off will be the 9th-1212 semis. Then the quarterfinals play at 4:30AM ET, 5AM, 5:30, and 6AM (all times Eastern Time). (Live stream here>>). 

This is where the USA absolutely must win. You win a QF you're in with a three out of four chance for a medal.