Tokyo 2020 Rugby Sevens: Automatic qualification for Japan

By Shamseer Jaleel

Twelve teams will compete for medals in both the men’s and women’s rugby Sevens competitions from 27 July-1 August at the Tokyo Stadium for the 2020 Olympic Games.

Japan’s men’s and women’s teams have secured automatic qualification as hosts of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, leaving 11 places in each event to be filled through the qualification process. The same as Rio 2016, the top four teams in the men’s and women’s World Rugby Sevens Series 2019 will confirm their places in Tokyo.

An additional six teams will qualify through the men’s and women’s World Rugby regional association Olympic qualification tournaments. Regional association tournaments will take place in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America from June-December 2019. The top-ranked team from each regional tournament will secure qualification.

The final opportunity for Olympic qualification will be at the World Rugby Olympic Repechage tournament. Twelve teams comprising the next two highest ranked teams based on 2019 regional qualification rankings from each region will be invited to participate in these Olympic repechage tournaments.

The repechage will take place at a time between the final regional qualification event and June 2020 with the overall winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments claiming the last available places for Tokyo 2020.

The rugby Sevens will again feature in the first week of competition with matches being played across six days of two sessions per day from 27 July-1 August.

Rugby Sevens made an impressive Olympic Games debut at Rio 2016 with Australia’s women claiming the first rugby gold medal since the 1924 Games and Fiji’s men winning their nation’s first-ever Olympic medal, with an historic gold that captured hearts around the world.

The 2019 Asia Rugby Sevens Series will act as qualification for Tokyo 2020. Champions in the 2019 Asian Series will gain qualification. This means a team other than Japan will book their flight to the Tokyo Olympics.