With just over a month to go before rugby sevens makes its debut at the Olympic Games, we take a look at how the competing teams are faring in their preparations.

Preparations for Rio 2016 are continuing in earnest with both the South Africa and Great Britain men's training squads in competitive action last weekend.

South Africa's sevens team on Saturday showed good form at the inaugural Assupol7s tournament played at Markötter Stadium in Stellenbosch, winning all three of their final day fixtures and walking away with the overall spoils.

The tournament, held to provide the Blitzboks with some game time as part of their preparations ahead of Rio 2016, saw the South Africans finishing the day strongly with wins over outfits from Zimbabwe and Western Province.

The Blitzboks won their opening match of the second day against Zimbabwe by 48-0, then saw off the challenge of a Western Province Invitational team 45-5 before beating Western Province 34-5 in a very competitive final.

"We achieved most of the aspects we wanted to look at. The areas we worked on in training came through well. There is always room for improvement, but overall I am pleased," said coach Neil Powell.

"We still have a couple of weeks to fine-tune things and will continue to work hard in order to do so."

South Africa, second seeds for the Olympic Games, will announce their final 12-man squad for Rio 2016 on 14 July, the same day that Australia, one of their Pool B rivals, and Canada and Argentina name theirs.

Siviwe Soyizwapi (pictured) would appear to be a shoo-in for Rio after receiving the Player of the Final award in Stellenbosch. "It was pleasing, but we play as a team and we share in these awards. It was a great tournament for us, as we had to get back into the swing of things," he said.

LIONS ROAR IN LONDON

It was an all-Great Britain final at the Sevens and the City tournament at Allianz Park in north London, as the GB Lions defeated GB Royals 27-14 at the home of English Premiership and European champions Saracens.

After months of training together, GB Lions and Royals met in their first competitive match #GB7s @7sandthecity pic.twitter.com/KXg9e2u7VA — England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) 2 July 2016

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series regular Mark Robertson scored twice while the Lions’ other tries came from a fit-again James Rodwell, Lee Jones and Robertson's fellow Scotsman Gavin Lowe. Dan Bibby and Sam Cross dotted down for the Royals.

Both teams won all four of their pool matches and progressed past Samurai and France in the semi-finals to set up a tense and captivating title decider. With just over two weeks until the Great Britain squad of 12 is named for the Olympic Games, it was evident how much was at stake.

“It has been an amazing day with some outstanding individual and team performances. In the last game, with the Lions and the Royals going toe to toe, the competitive edge and the quality of the rugby was of the highest level and I’m absolutely delighted,” said GB coach Simon Amor.

“Both teams were pushing for the win, you could see how much the outcome meant to them. Individuals clearly wanted to perform well but it was the team win that they desperately wanted and that was clear in the way the Lions celebrated their victory at the end. It was brilliant, it shows how close all the guys have become in a short space of time and that, combined with brilliant individual displays, is what you want as a coach.”

The next two weekends will see both GB teams in action again on the Rugby Europe Grand Prix Sevens Series, playing at the Exeter Sevens first before travelling to Gdynia, Poland.

“We have learned a lot more today about how different players operate with each other,” added Amor. “It was also great to see Charlie Hayter and James Rodwell back in the mix and Joseva Nayacavou bringing his x-factor. It gives Gareth (Williams, assistant coach) and I plenty to think about over the coming days as we focus preparations now on Exeter.”

Over the weekend New Zealand, Great Britain’s Pool C opponents at Rio 2016, were the first of the participating nations to announce their men's and women's squads for the Olympic Games.

Photo credit (Assupol7s): Jaco Marais