Rugby Sevens Experts Make Their Medal Predictions For Paris 2024 Olympics

The Rugby Sevens at the Paris 2024 Olympics starts on July 24th, just before the official opening ceremony and sell-out crowds are already expected for the men’s and women’s events and there’s already a great deal of anticipation around which nations will end up in the medal tables.

As we have started to see the Rugby 7s sides enter the Olympic Village and post online across their social media accounts, the excitement is palpable. So who are the favourites to take home medals from the Games this year?

The schedule for the men’s sevens runs from July 24 – 27th – with a break in the middle for the opening ceremony – and the women’s event begins on July 28th and concludes on July 30th 2024.

Eyes are said to be on the likes of Australia and New Zealand in the battle for gold in both the men’s and women’s games. However, the men’s Fiji side will be looking to make it three golds in a row, following their iconic successes in Rio in 2016 and Tokyo in 2021. Do not ignore the Argentinian men’s team, who are touted as dark horses and some believe the French sides could also capitalise on a home advantage.

We look at some of the predictions for this year’s Olympic Sevens from a number of experts involved in the sevens game – including current and former players and coaches thanks to RugbyPass.

Several of those interviewed have also picked out a selection of players they believe will be standout performers across the tournaments.

Gareth Baber and Mike Friday – Who Will Take Gold At Rugby Sevens Paris 2024 Olympics?

Gareth Baber, who previously was with Hong Kong before famously guiding the Fiji men’s side to their second gold medal in Tokyo 2020, and the current USA Men’s Sevens team coach, Mike Friday, have both predicted that the respective sides where they have strong allegiances are the ones who are in with a chance of gold.

Baber said: “I know people will be worried about Fiji, given their track record. There’s work to be done there, but they certainly can medal. The country is steeped in sevens rugby and they’ve consistently produced some players who can really do something.

Friday stated: “I think we’re [USA] going to be a bolt out of the blue – we have the capability to cause absolute havoc.”

Both went on to champion the Antipodean and French sides too:

“New Zealand will be positioning themselves as real medal contenders too. I’d also back France to do well, but their major challenge is constructing a frame to help their players do their best stuff in front of the home crowd, said Baber.

Mike Friday explained: “France in both the men’s and the women’s are contenders. But looking just at the women, it’s going to be the likes of Australia and New Zealand that are pushing for gold.”

He also singled out several players to watch from the men’s and women’s events: “You’ve got the Levi sisters who are fantastic, Jorja Miller is a real catalyst too for New Zealand, but they’ve also got Michaela Blyde and Portia Woodman-Wickliffe – a core of excellent players. On the men’s side, Marcos Moneta for Argentina, Dupont – just because it’s him – Terry Kennedy from Ireland is just a proper baller and will make things happen,” said USA Men’s Coach Mike Friday.

Katy Daley-McLean MBE and Rachael Burford

Former England and Team GB Women’s Sevens stars, Katy Daley-McLean and Rachael Burford gave these medal predictions for the women’s events:

Daley-McLean said: “Australia and New Zealand are big favourites, but with their style of rugby, I think Canada and France will be in the mix there as well.” Rachael commented: “France – although under a lot of pressure – are at their best when they’re at home…Australia and New Zealand are coming into the Olympics very strong and a lot of people are expecting them to battle it out for the gold, but it’ll depend on who stays fit for them.”

Amongst their player recommendations, they also advised to watch out for Ellie Kildunne and Megan Jones of Team GB.

Katy Daley-McLean explained: “I reckon if she [Ellie] smashes it in the Olympics and the next Rugby World Cup, she has the potential to become a household name.” While Rachael believes: “Meg will be massive for GB, her presence will transform that team. She alone will increase the ability of the whole squad.”

Tom Mitchell and Luke Treharne

Tom Mitchell, former England and Team GB Sevens captain, and Luke Treharne, former Team GB Sevens player and current Hong Kong 7s skills coach, offered these views:

Mitchell stated: “Looking at Argentina, Marcos Moneta who has come back from injury to make the squad is an absolute gun when fully firing…it’s also hard to look beyond Australia and New Zealand.”

Luke Treharne said: “For the women, I’ve been toying between the two juggernauts of Australia and New Zealand, but I think New Zealand will get the gold. France will get the bronze. As for the men, I think it’s going to go something like Argentina for gold, Fiji silver and Ireland bronze.”

Mitchell added, “Olympic inclusion is another big driver for growth in other nations. China for instance in four years time could be really competitive and that’ll be a massive new audience. But you could also apply this incentive to global younger generations. For instance, there will be young and new fans who will see these Olympians and think ‘I want to do that’.”

Naya Tapper and Jodie Ounsley

Former England and Team GB Women’s Sevens wing, Jodie Ounsley, as well as current USA Women’s Sevens captain, Naya Tapper (who has announced she will retire after the Olympics).

Ounsley (who was at the Cathay/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens as a guest in 2023) understandably chose her former teammates to go all the way: “I have to back the GB women’s side, but Australia and New Zealand are so strong and are definitely teams to look out for.”

Tapper also demonstrated some national pride by backing her country for Olympics success: “For the women’s and men’s sides, I manifest USA taking the gold. Let’s hope we can come back to this conversation and praise how great I am at predictions.”

Jodie was another expert to express admiration for Team GB’s Ellie Kildunne: “She’s coming back to sevens and she’s going to bring so many fans with her and I know she will make a great impact and be a storm at the Olympics. She will get people talking for sure.” Naya went on to highlight plenty of names for the women’s events: “Ilona Maher, Maddi Levi, Teagan Levi, Michaela Blyde, Portia Woodman, Anne-Cécile Ciofani, Séraphine Okemba – with how much talent we have in the game across all teams I could go on and on.”

Sevens Players’ Last Dance In Paris

A number of legends of the Sevens Rugby game will also know this is their last crack at an Olympic medal, as the following have all announced they will retire from Sevens after Paris:

• Porta Woodman-Wickliffe (NZ)
• Tyla King (NZ)
• Dom Du Toit (Australia)
• Sharni Williams (Australia)
• Naya Tapper (USA)

This write-up was supplied and edited for our purposes – For further details, you can find the full selection of predictions and ‘ones to watch’ from these experts and more in part two on RugbyPass.

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