Rugby Sevens at the Commonwealth Games: How to watch, UPDATED schedule and more

Sun, Jul 31, 2022, 7:13 AM
Nathan Williamson
by Nathan Williamson
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The Commonwealth Games are set to get underway, with the Rugby Sevens set to kick off from July 29.

Australia has two genuine gold-medal chances as both sides enter with plenty of expectations.

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The world champion women's team will look to go one better than Gold Coast, narrowly defeated by New Zealand in the gold medal match in 2018.

They swept through the World Series, winning four of six legs, and begin their tournament against South Africa.

Meanwhile, John Manenti's side are out to replicate their heroics from London, with their first title in nearly four years vaulting them into second on the World Series ladder ahead of the final round in LA.

Recent wins over New Zealand and Fiji have only boosted their confidence as Samu Kerevi makes his return to the seven-a-side format.

With action set to get underway, here's everything you need to know about Rugby Sevens at the Commonwealth Games

WHEN DO AUSTRALIA PLAY IN THE RUGBY SEVENS COMMONWEALTH GAMES FINAL?

The Women's Sevens side will take the field in the gold medal match against Fiji at 5:38 am on Monday 1 August.

They booked their place in the final after a rollercoaster 17-12 victory over New Zealand in the semi-finals.

Before this, the Men's side will play in the bronze medal match against the Kiwis at 5:12 am.

This came after they were defeated 24-12 by South Africa in the semi-finals.

HOW TO WATCH THE COMMONWEALTH GAMES AND RUGBY SEVENS IN AUSTRALIA?

The Seven Network has exclusive rights to broadcast every event of the Commonwealth Games in Australia. 

Events, including every game of the Rugby Sevens, will be shown on television across their three respective channels: 7, 7TWO, and 7mate. 

They will also be live streaming their televised events via 7+ which will have a dedicated Commonwealth Games channel that can be accessed online or via the app.

AUSTRALIA'S COMMONWEALTH GAMES RUGBY SEVENS TEAMS

WOMEN'S

Charlotte Caslick (co-c)

Lily Dick

Dominique Du Toit

Demi Hayes (co-c)

Madison Ashby

Tia Hinds

Alysia Lefau-Fakaosilea

Maddison Levi

Teagan Levi

Faith Nathan

Sariah Paki

Jesse Southwell

Sharni Williams

MEN'S

Ben Dowling

Matt Gonzalez

Henry Hutchison

Samu Kerevi

Nathan Lawson

Maurice Longbottom

Nick Malouf

Ben Marr

Mark Nawaqanitawase

Henry Paterson

Dietrich Roache

Corey Toole

Josh Turner

RUGBY SEVENS COMMONWEALTH GAMES SCHEDULE

AUSTRALIA'S MEN'S POOL D SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AEST)

Friday 29 July

Australia v Jamaica, 7:28 pm AEST 

Saturday 30 July

Australia v Uganda, 4:20 am AEST

Australia v Kenya, 7:50 pm AEST

Sunday 31 July

QUARTER FINAL 3: Australia/Kenya v New Zealand/Samoa - 6:10 am AEST

QUARTER FINAL 4: Australia/Kenya v New Zealand/Samoa - 6:32 am AEST

AUSTRALIA'S WOMEN'S POOL B SCHEDULE (ALL TIMES AEST)

Friday 29 July

Australia v South Africa, 6:00 pm AEST 

Saturday 30 July

Australia v Scotland, 2:52 am AEST

Australia v Fiji, 6:22 pm AEST

Sunday 31 July

SEMI FINAL 1: Australia/Fiji (Pool B second place) v New Zealand/England (Pool A first place) - 4:42 am AEST

SEMI FINAL 2: Australia/Fiji (Pool B first place) v New Zealand/Canada/England (Pool A second place) - 5:04 am AEST

RUGBY SEVENS LAWS AND TOURNAMENT FORMAT

With Rugby Sevens still a relatively new sport in the Commonwealth calendar, especially for the women's teams, here is everything you need to know about the fast-growing sport.

Teams have been drawn into three pools of four, with the top two nations automatically qualifying for the quarter-finals.

The format has significant changes from the 15-a-side format, which includes:

  • 7 players per team on field
  • Five substitutes, with five interchanges
  • Seven-minute halves
  • Maximum of two minutes half-time
  • Matches drawn after regulation are continued into golden point and extra in multiple 5-minute periods.
  • All conversion attempts must be drop-kicked and taken within 30 seconds instead of having the option to place-kick
  • Three player scrums instead of the regular eight.
  • Kick-offs: in sevens, the team which has just scored kicks off, rather than the conceding team.
  • Players who receive a yellow card will be sidelined for only two minutes

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