Final Americas Rosters for Men’s Olympic 7s

The opening ceremony isn’t until Friday, but the Men’s Rugby Sevens tournament at the Paris Olympics kicks off on Wednesday. Representing the Americas are three of the 12 entries – Argentina, Uruguay, and the USA. Of those the betting favorite to medal is Los Pumas, but the Eagles are a veteran outfit and Los Teros have the ability to cause an upset.

Santiago Alvarez leads Argentina, who finished first overall on this year’s circuit but settled for second in the winner-take-all Madrid tourney under the new series format. He is one of three Pumas who return for a third Olympic games along with Gastón Revol and Germán Schulz.

Last year’s World Rugby 7s Player of the Year Rodrigo Isgró is named as an alternate due to a suspension that leaves him ineligible for the pool stage. If called upon it would be the second Olympic Games for Isgró. Matías Osadczuk, Luciano González, and Marcos Moneta were also part of the squad that finished as Bronze winners in Tokyo three years ago.

With Canada falling short of qualification, the USA will be flying the flag for North America. The Eagles were 9th overall on this year’s circuit and dropped out in the Quarter Finals at Tokyo. Kevon Williams captains the squad in his second Olympic Games, one of five players who were in the 2021 squad.

It’s the second Olympics for Matai Leuta, Stephen Tomasin, and Maka Unufe, and the third for Madison Hughes and Perry Baker. Unufe was on the Rio 2016 roster but missed out on Tokyo with injury. Top lineout forward Joe Schroeder was poised to make his second Olympics but was ruled out with injury, with Leuta recalled in his place.

Uruguay were not part of the 2023-24 Sevens Series, instead dropping to the Challenger circuit, but did earn their spot for next season with a successful Madrid event. This is their first Olympic Games, qualifying as South American representatives after Argentina sealed their spot with a top-four finish on the 2022-23 circuit.

Diego Ardao captains with veteran playmaker Guillermo Lijtenstein helping with on-field leadership. Much of the squad has also represented their country in test rugby. James McCubbin is something of a sevens specialist while Bautista Basso, Felipe Arcos Pérez, and Mateo Viñals are also experienced campaigners in the shortened code.

Madrid champions France will be among the tournament favorites with global star Antoine Dupont part of the home squad. Sevens great Jerry Tuwai headlines a potent Fiji lineup, New Zealand will be led by stalwart forwards Dylan Collier and Scott Curry, and former LA Giltinis flanker Harry McNulty captains overall circuit runners-up Ireland.

The tournament begins at 3:30pm local time on Wednesday, 10:30am Eastern, 7:30am Pacific. Pool play takes place over two days with the medal finals on Friday. A complete schedule can be seen here.

 

 

## PLAYER HGT WGT DOB CAPS*

* – World Sevens Series tournaments

 

ARGENTINA

Head Coach: Santiago Gómez Cora

1 Joaquín Pellandini 1.72
5-8
72
160
1999-05-27 19
2 Tomás Elizaldze 1.82
6-0
90
200
2002-11-18 14
3 Germán Schulz 1.88
6-2
95
210
1994-02-05 70
4 Matteo Graziano 1.95
6-5
105
230
2001-07-21 21
5 Agustín Fraga 1.93
6-4
98
215
2002-03-06 25
6 Santiago Álvarez (capt.) 1.88
6-2
93
205
1994-02-17 63
7 Tobias Wade 1.83
6-0
82
180
1999-08-06 22
8 Gastón Revol 1.70
5-7
76
165
1986-11-26 106
9 Matías Osadczuk 1.91
6-3
96
210
1997-04-22 42
10 Santiago Mare 1.84
6-0
92
200
1996-10-21 35
11 Luciano González 1.80
5-11
95
210
1997-04-10 56
12 Marcos Moneta 1.85
6-1
75
165
2000-03-07 26
ALT Rodrigo Isgró 1.85
6-1
95
210
1999-03-24 28
ALT Santiago Vera Feld 1.81
5-11
82
180
2001-03-19 23


URUGUAY

Head Coach: Ivo Dugonjic

1 James McCubbin 1.90
6-3
95
210
1998-05-27 12
2 Valentín Grille 1.87
6-2
88
195
1998-06-15 8
3 Tomás Etcheverry 1.96
6-5
101
220
2001-09-30 9
4 Juan Manuel Tafernaberry 1.75
5-9
72
160
2002-05-27 3
5 Bautista Basso 1.85
6-1
87
190
2001-01-18 12
6 Diego Ardao (capt.) 1.77
5-10
90
200
1995-08-04 14
7 Mateo Viñals 1.81
5-11
85
185
1998-10-07 11
8 Felipe Arcos Pérez 1.79
5-10
92
200
2000-05-17 10
9 Guillermo Lijtenstein 1.68
5-6
75
165
1990-09-14 18
10 Baltazar Amaya 1.85
6-1
90
200
1999-05-26 8
11 Ignacio Facciolo 1.88
6-2
91
200
2001-08-12 12
12 Juan González 1.79
5-10
87
190
2003-04-12 2
ALT Koba Brazionis 1.76
5-9
81
180
1998-10-07 8
ALT Dante Soto 1.75
5-9
80
175
2003-06-02 1

 

USA

Head Coach: Mike Friday

1 Aaron Cummings 1.88
6-2
90
200
1997-07-01 21
2 Maka Unufe 1.88
6-2
96
210
1991-09-28 53
3 Orrin Bizer 1.89
6-2
97
215
2000-12-13 7
4 Matai Leuta 1.91
6-3
106
235
1990-07-20 44
5 Marcus Tupuola 1.78
5-10
88
195
1995-10-05 31
6 Kevon Williams (capt.) 1.78
5-10
84
185
1991-06-07 53
7 Naima Fuala’au 1.76
5-9
85
185
1998-06-17 29
8 Malacchi Esdale 1.88
6-2
90
200
1995-05-04 26
9 Stephen Tomasin 1.78
5-10
87
190
1994-09-25 60
10 Madison Hughes 1.75
5-9
79
175
1992-10-26 60
11 Perry Baker 1.85
6-1
82
180
1986-06-29 71
12 Lucas Lacamp 1.82
6-0
88
195
2001-06-04 20
ALT Adam Channel 1.91
6-3
96
210
1997-01-16 14
ALT Pita Vi 1.80
5-11
85
185
2002-01-31 8

The post Final Americas Rosters for Men’s Olympic 7s appeared first on Americas Rugby News.

Post a Comment

0 Comments