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Men's Olympic Rugby Day 1 Wrap

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Men's Olympic Rugby Day 1 Wrap

Japan almost shocked the world twice. Photo courtesy World Rugby.

The Men's Rugby 7s Olympic event has already given us several surprises and raised all sorts of questions for Wednesday's Day 2 action.

First, the scores:

France 31 Australia 14

South Africa 24 Spain 0

Great Britain 31 Kenya 7

Japan 14 New Zealand 12

Argentina 17 USA 14

Australia 26 Spain 12

South Africa 26 France 0

Great Britain 21 Japan 19

New Zealand 28 Kenya 5

USA 26 Brazil 0

Fiji 21 Argentina 14

Yes, that's right, Japan beat New Zealand, and France beat Australia. Japan then almost beat Great Britain, and are quickly becoming a fan favorite. Why this all matters is because we could have at least one pool where there are three teams going 2-1. That could mean bad news for the USA.

Here are the standings:

POOL A W L T PF PA PD Pts
FIJI 2 0 0 61 26 35 6
USA 1 1 0 40 17 23 4
ARGENTINA 1 1 0 31 35 -4 4
BRAZIL 0 2 0 12 66 -54 2
               
POOL B W L T PF PA PD Pts
SOUTH AFRICA 2 0 0 50 0 50 6
AUSTRALIA 1 1 0 40 43 -3 4
FRANCE 1 1 0 31 40 -9 4
SPAIN 0 2 0 12 50 -38 2
               
POOL C W L T PF PA PD Pts
GREAT BRITAIN 2 0 0 52 26 26 6
NEW ZEALAND 1 1 0 40 19 21 4
JAPAN 1 1 0 33 33 0 4
KENYA 0 2 0 12 59 -47 2

 

Now, the USA plays Fiji, and would dearly love to win that game. They can, and if they do, they will have to watch Argentina, which plays Brazil and should win big. Australia takes on South Africa, and will be sweating the Spain v France game. France has to be favored in that clash, and should finish 2-1. Australia is certainly capable of beating South Africa, leaving those two teams at 2-1.

In Pool C, it's all crazy. New Zealand is injury-riddled but could well beat Great Britain to move both to 2-1. Japan, on form, should beat Kenya, but you never know.

All this means that being 1-2 with a good points difference might well not be good enough for a team to make the quarterfinals. The USA has to beat Fiji to be sure.

Tuesday's games:

Eastern Time  
10:00 France v Spain
10:30 South Africa v Australia
11:00 Kenya v Japan
11:30 New Zealand v Great Britain
12:00 Argentina v Brazil
12:30 Fiji v USA