It’s about the rings.

The Olympic Rings are still a hugely elusive part of sevens rugby, and who qualifies for Tokyo 2020 is on everyone’s mind.

Right now, in the Women’s World Series, something is going on that is going to cause a lot of dissatisfaction in Europe.

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Here’s why:

The top four of New Zealand, USA, Canada, and Australia are well ahead of the rest of the field. New Zealand is so far ahead of the rest of these teams that we might as well give them the World Series trophy now. No, seriously. New Zealand has won all three tournaments so far, and has 60 points to the USA’s 48. Someone would have to win or finish 2nd in every tournament remaining, and hope New Zealand starts missing the semis every tournament for that gap to be covered.

But aside from that, the gap between 4th and 5th is event bigger. France, sitting 5th, has 32 points, 14 behind Australia and Canada (who both have 46). Let’s say Canada or Australia repeat their poorest performance of the season over the next three tournaments - averaging 12 points an event. France would have to finish in the top two every tournament, winning at least one, to get into the top four.

No wonder the smiles among the top three teams in Sydney were so big.

Who gets bumped

Very likely, New Zealand and Australia will have automatic spots in the Olympics. That means that the battle for the Oceania spot will be among the likes of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, and Cook Islands.

The USA and Canada are also in excellent shape to qualify by finishing in the top four. That means the North America qualifiers will be decided from the likes of Mexico, Jamaica, and Trinidad &Tobago.

That also means, that there would be no automatic qualifier from Europe, meaning that the European qualifier would include Great Britain, France, Ireland, Russia, and Spain.





Only one team comes out of any of those qualifiers. Someone will not be happy. Some nation with a pretty good rugby team won’t make it to Tokyo.

Right now the qualification looks as follows:

Japan - host nation

New Zealand - Top 4 World Series

USA - Top 4 World Series

Canada - Top 4 World Series

Australia - Top 4 World Series

Asia - China favored but Hong Kong or Kazakhstan could be there

Oceania - Probably Fiji

Africa - Probably South Africa

Europe - Great Britain, France, Ireland, Russia, or Spain all have a shot

South America - Probably Brazil

North America - Probably Mexico

There’s also a repechage tournament, for teams that didn’t quite qualify. One of those European teams is almost assuredly going to get in from there.

But Out of Great Britain, France, Ireland, Russia, and Spain, at least three will stay home.



