China secured the final place in the women’s Rugby Sevens tournament at the Paris Olympics on Sunday with South Africa taking the final spot in the men’s draw at the expense of Great Britain.
Both sides qualified for the Games after winning the Olympic repechage which saw 12 teams competing in each draw over the weekend in Monaco, with the last available place at the Games up for grabs.
China’s women, who have competed in the Sevens World Cup since the inaugural tournament in 2009 and were favourites to book their place, cruised through their group with big wins over Mexico, Czech Republic and Poland.
They went on to beat Paraguay 31-0 in the quarter-finals before facing Poland again in the semis.
A 40-7 win swept China into the final where they dispatched Kenya 24-7 to qualify for their second successive Olympics.
The men’s final pitted the tournament’s two favourites against each other: Great Britain, who won silver at Rio 2016, and South Africa, who won bronze at the same Olympics.
Quewin Nortje opened the scoring for the “Blitzboks” with Tristan Leyds converting to make it 7-0. Robbie Fergusson scored in the corner for GB to cut the lead to two but from the restart Shilton van Wyk ran 50 metres to score.
With Leyds converting, South Africa were 14-5 up at half-time. There was no score in the second half, handing South Africa a place in Paris while the British miss out.
The Rugby Sevens tournament will take place from July 24 to 30 at the Stade de France.
Qualified for Paris 2024:
Men: Argentina, Australia, Fiji, France, Ireland, Japan, Kenya, New Zealand, Samoa, South Africa, USA, Uruguay
Women: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Fiji, France, Great Britain, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, USA