Our Pool B opponents ready to play us
Team Fiji men’s rugby sevens Pool B opponents are all ready to get down with business.
Olympic newcomers, Canada, are honoured to face the Fijians, 2016 gold medal winners and silver medallists Great Britain.
Canada’s all-time leading rugby sevens points-scorer Nathan Hirayama and the equally experienced Harry Jones are co-captaining Canada. The pair have played nearly 700 World Series matches between them.
“It’s an honour to compete for Canada at Tokyo 2020,” Hirayama said.
“We travel the world representing Canada, but this will be my first Olympic Games and we’re excited to get to Tokyo.
“It’s been an unprecedented year, but we’ve been training and preparing as best we can and look forward to competing.”
Fijian connection
Hosts, Japan with three Fijians are hoping to continue from where their national XVs team left off at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
Powerhouse forward Jose Seru along with veterans Kameli Soejima and Lote Tuqiri play a crucial role in Japan’s progress.
Japan secured fourth place after losing 54-14 against South Africa in the bronze medal match at the Rio Olympics.
Lote Tuqiri dotted down to help Japan defeat France 12-7 in the quarter-finals before they lost to the eventual gold medal winners Fiji 20-5 in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Great Britain are bringing several of their star names from Rio.
They have returned to the sevens fray. England’s Tom Mitchell will captain Team GB once again after leading the outfit to the final five years ago.
Among the squad’s other returning Olympians, record try-scorer Dan Norton will bring a wealth of experience and pace to burn to Japan, while Dan Bibby, Ollie Lindsay-Hague, and Alex Davis have also been selected for their second Games.
England’s Ethan Waddleton and Harry Glover and Scotland’s Max McFarland are among those to get their first taste of an Olympics, having also impressed during the men’s rugby seven’s tournament at the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Team GB Chef de Mission for the Tokyo Olympic Games Mark England, said: “Rugby sevens made its memorable debut at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with both men’s and women’s teams inspiring fans across the globe.”