Oceania Rugby 7s Men's & Women's Rugby Olympic Qualifier: Day One

Oceania Rugby 7s Men’s & Women’s Rugby Olympic Qualifier: Day One

The Oceania Rugby Sevens Olympic Qualifier is being played at the Trusts Arena in Waitakere, Auckland, New Zealand. The Winners of both the Men’s and Women’s competitions will earn a place at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, while the second and third place teams will enter the repechage expected to take place in June 2016.

So far in the men’s bracket, both Australia and Samoa went undefeated in their Pools and are expected to meet at Midnight EST to decide which team will book a place at Rio.

The Men’s quarterfinals will begin at 4:44 pm EST today.

The Men’s Championship Semi-finals will begin at 8:28pm EST. Based on performances so far, it is likely that the matches will be Tonga v Samoa and Papua New Guinea and Australia.

The Men’s Championship will kickoff at Midnight EST. The 3rd/4th place match will kickoff at 11:10pm EST.

While Pool play concludes with two matches today, Fiji has looked impressive with wins against Cook Islands and Tonga. Fijiana are likely winners of this qualifier.

The Semi-Finals will include both Samoa and Cook Islands who had similar wins against Papua New Guinea and also losses to Fiji. Papua New Guinea will join them in the Semi-Finals.

The 3rd Place match at 10:48pm EST will be for inclusion in the Repechage tournament in June. The Women’s Final at 11:32 pm EST will book a place for the winner in the Olympics, while the second place team will also move on to the Repechage tournament in June 2016.