FIJI BEGINS OLYMPIC RUGBY 7s GOLD DEFENCE WITH 2 WINS

Fiji’s Iowane Teba breaks through the Uruguay defense for a try on day one of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France on 24 July, 2024 in Paris. Photo: World Rugby / Mike Lee - KLC

Olympics rugby sevens men's defending champions, Fiji, have won both their pool games on day one of the competition. The Fijians defeated Uruguay 40-12 in their opening game, before winning over the USA 38-12 on Thursday morning. Samoa lost their first game 21-14 to Australia, before going down to Argentina 28-12, reducing their hopes of making the next round. Fiji, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia and Argentina have all won two games each on day one and have secured quarterfinal spots. "The first game is always hard, our bodies were not that fired up yet. But we improved on that and we also improved the technical stuff, like how to handle the kick-off," Fiji captain and double Olympic gold medalist Jerry Tuwai said. The men's sevens continue with the final round of pool matches starting midnight (Friday NZ time) before the quarterfinals begin at 7am. Teams then take a rest on Saturday as the Games Opening Ceremony takes place before finals day on Sunday. In a statement, World Rugby said sevens kicked off at Paris 2024 in front of a record-breaking crowd of 69,000 fans at Stade de France. World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont said: "We wanted to get the Games off to a spectacular start, but, wow, today was special. "A single-day record crowd for rugby sevens, an incredible atmosphere, and of course, scintillating rugby. Sevens brought its A game, and the world was watching." The women's competition runs from Monday. rnz.co.nz