Football look out, a new sport is winning over Brazilian hearts. At the recently unveiled Deodoro Stadium, the Rio 2016 rugby test event showed this weekend (5-6 March) that the game has the right stuff to be a major hit at this year’s Olympic Games.

While the traditional 15-player version of the sport was played at the Games in 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924, rugby returns to the Olympic fold this year in the shorter, more dynamic seven-a-side version. And the weekend’s tournament had the added ingredient of regional rivalry, with eight teams contesting the South American championship.

Become a rugby sevens expert with our interactive infographic

The final threw-up a classic showdown in Deodoro Olympic Park: Brazil v Argentina, with the hosts prevailing to ensure they maintained their 100 per cent record in their 11th appearance in the tournament.

“Our objective at Rio 2016 is clear: to show the world that Brazil is good at rugby and to show rugby to Brazil”

Julia Sarda, Brazilian rugby sevens international

Not even all the strength and speed of Sofia Gonzales, considered the Lionel Messi of the Argentine side, enabled her country to get close to Brazil – the gold medal match ended up 27-5 in Brazil’s favour.

The Brazilian players celebrate victory at Deodoro Stadium (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

The semi-finals were similarly one-sided, with Brazil triumphing 31-0 over Colombia, who were considered one of the stronger sides and finished the test event in third place.

“We came here to shorten the distance in relation to Brazil. We wanted to compete in the final, but it didn’t work out. They are the opponents to beat at Rio 2016”

Estefania Ramirez, Colombian rugby sevens international
 

Colombia ganha o bronze!#EventoTeste de #Rugby7s #AqueceRio pic.twitter.com/KKOZYI1aa6

— Aquece Rio (@AqueceRio) 6 de março de 2016

While Brazil (as host nation) and Colombia (as continental qualifiers) are already confirmed for the Olympic Games, Argentina and Venezuela will be among 16 teams competing for the final Olympic place at the global repechage event in Dublin in June. The other teams in the test event – Uruguay, Chile, Paraguay and Peru – will have to wait until Tokyo 2020 for their next shot at Olympic involvement.

Follow the race to qualify for the Olympic Games

Could rugby become a national passion?

Mark Egan, World Rugby’s head of competitions and performance, said last week that Brazil could become a “top-10 or top-20” rugby nation in the next 10-15 years. The Olympic Games will be crucial to this. With more open space – sevens is played on the same size pitch as the 15-player game – the Olympic tournament will be high-scoring and full of drama. As well as the fast runnning, slick handling skills and visionary passing, the physical aspect – rugby is full of bone-crunching tackles – is likely to appeal to local audiences.

As expected, the Brazil v Argentina final was packed with strong tackling (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

While the test event was not open to the public – the 15,000 temporary seats will be installed closer to the Games – the simple spectator areas at Deodoro Stadium were full of boisterous invited guests and vibrated with excitement (see video below). Even those who did not know much about the sport were pleasantly surprised by the dynamism of the games, which lasted just 15 minutes: “It’s very exciting. I didn’t know anything and, at the beginning of the game I was a little lost, but I managed to understand quickly,” said Rio resident Luciana Dantes.

Brasileiras em campo e torcida se agita!!  pic.twitter.com/LBO65i9KfS

— Aquece Rio (@AqueceRio) 6 de março de 2016

Those who know the sport, such as former player Hélio Barros, believe it has everything required to captivate Brazilians:

“People who watch rugby at the Olympics are going to have the biggest excitement of their lives”

Hélio Barros, former Brazilian player

Medal winners Brazil, Argentina and Colombia celebrate together (Photo: Rio 2016/Paulo Mumia)

For World Rugby, the sport’s global governing body, returning to the Olympic Games has helped the discipline gain momentum in the country. “We have seen a lot of progress in teams and we think that the sport fits the Brazilian style well,” said Egan. “Every time we bring rugby here, fans and athletes have fun and like what they see.”

For the Rio 2016 organising committee, the test event was an opportunity to analyse various aspects of competition management. For the athletes, it was a chance to put tactics into practice and play the Olympic pitch which, according to Egan, was top quality.

“The venue is excellent and the pitch is very good,” he said. “We’re happy. Our main aim was to test the competition area and we have concluded that it is of a high standard.”

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