Tokyo Olympic Games - Day One Recap

Mon, Jul 26, 2021, 1:19 PM
Oceania Rugby
by Oceania Rugby
New Zealand's William Warbrick scores against Argentina on Day 1 of Tokyo 2020 (Photo Credit: Mike Lee)
New Zealand's William Warbrick scores against Argentina on Day 1 of Tokyo 2020 (Photo Credit: Mike Lee)

The three teams from Oceania won five from six games during the opening day of Tokyo 2020, as Fiji and New Zealand finish the day undefeated.

Full results and schedule can be found here.

In Pool A, Rugby World Cup Sevens and World Rugby Sevens Series champions New Zealand opened their Tokyo 2020 campaign the largest Olympic victory with their 45-point demolition of Korea, 50-5, followed by their second win of the day over Argentina 35-14. Late call up William Warbrick has proven a valuable inclusion for the All Black Sevens with two tries contributing to New Zealand having score the most tries (13) of the tournament thus far.

New Zealand co-captain Tim Mikkelson spoke following the win against Argentina:

"We are feeling good, we talked about starting well against Korea and then having a pretty tough game against Argie. They are probably the form team at the moment, they have won three tournaments that have played around the world and when they got the ball in hand they are very dangerous.”

Australia finished day one behind New Zealand on the ladder with one win and one loss. The Aussies went down to Argentina following a four try first half blitz from the South Americans. A late second half push from the Australians was not enough to overcome a team full of Youth Olympic medallist 19-29. Tim Walsh’s men regrouped in the second session with Lachie Miller leading the way scoring multiple tries to outclass Korea 42-5. It will be an Oceania affair on Tuesday morning with Australia taking on the undefeated All Black Sevens to secure a place in the quarter-finals.

The Fijians survived a scare against the host nation in the opening match of Tokyo 2020. Fijian born Lote Tuqiri scored after the halftime siren to give the hosts a 14-12 advantage going into the break. The defending champions regrouped and secured the vital first win of the tournament 24-19. Fiji needed to work hard to account for a desperate Canadian team in their second game of the day eventually running out with a 28-14 victory. Looking ahead to day two will see Fiji come up against Great Britain who are undefeated and yet to concede a point in Tokyo with the winner set to top pool B heading into the quarter-finals.

Fiji’s Meli Derenalagi spoke about the team’s uncharacteristic high error count on day one:

"It’s a tough day at the office for us. Lots of mistakes but we are looking forward to our review and working hard tomorrow.

"It started off with our restarts, but I know the boys will pull up their socks."

"The boys have prepared well for a few months, it’s just the difference between the world stage and the Olympic stage. The best players from around the world participate here. I’m sure the boys will come out harder tomorrow."Meanwhile in Pool C South Africa and the USA head into the final match of the morning session unbeaten and knowing that whoever wins will line up in the quarter-finals as Pool C winners after both disposed of Kenya and Ireland on Day One. Finishing top of the pool will set up a knockout match against the team that finishes second in Pool A, which mathematically could still be Argentina, Australia or New Zealand.

Day 2 Preview

Fiji play Great Britain at 9:30am (local) to determine who tops the pool, with the winner to play the best third-place team (7:00pm local), while the loser will face the second-placed team in Pool C (loser of South Africa v USA) at 6:00pm (local).

New Zealand and Australia will face each other at 10:30 (local). A New Zealand win will see them top the pool and play the second best third-place team (5:30pm local), while Australia will finish third and rely on other results to progress, playing either New Zealand or the Pool B winner (Fiji or Great Britain) in the quarterfinals.

However, an Australian victory will set up a three-way tie (if Argentina beat Korea), with the tie-break scenarios determining final seeding.

Second-place in Pool A will face the winner of Pool C (winner of South Africa v USA) at 6:30pm (local).

Knockout Stage

updated at the conclusion of Pool Play on day 2. 

The top two teams from each pool, as well as the two best third place teams will contest the quarterfinals during the evening session on Tuesday 27 July, with the following match ups.

QF1 - New Zealand (1st Pool A) v Canada (2nd Best 3rd)

QF2 - Great Britain (2nd Pool B) v United States (2nd Pool C)

QF3 - South Africa (1st Pool C) v Argentina (2nd Pool A)

QF4 - Fiji (1st Pool B) v Australia (Best 3rd)

The winners will contest the semifinals during the morning session on Day 3 (28 July), with the medal matches for the semifinalists in the evening.

SF1 - Winner QF1 v Winner QF2

SF2 - Winner QF3 v Winner QF4

Bronze - Loser SF1 v Loser SF2

Gold - Winner SF1 v Winner SF2

Note: Classification matches for final standings will be contested concurrently, using the same matchups.

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