Tomorrow marks 100 days to go to rugby sevens kick-off with the action beginning in Tokyo Stadium on 26 July 2021.
The match officials squad contains representatives from 12 countries spread across four continents and includes eight female referees. The group includes a blend of highly experience referees and exciting young talent making their debuts on the Olympic stage.
The individuals were selected by the World Rugby’s Match Official Selection Committee following a comprehensive review of performances and fitness. All selected referees have proven themselves on the annual HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and many also featured at the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2018 in San Francisco and the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games.
The group also includes five internationals who have swapped the playing shirt for the whistle. Selica Winiata is a current Black Ferns player who has been capped 40 times and is aiming to compete at the Rugby World Cup on home soil next year. She was a Rugby World Cup winner in 2017, scoring two tries in the final at her second Rugby World Cup. She is also a former Black Ferns Sevens player, becoming Rugby World Cup Sevens champion in 2013, and runner-up in 2009. She has since refereed at four events on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series and impressed when refereeing at the Oceania Rugby Women’s Sevens Championship in November 2019.
Evans and Jones are also among seven referees who will officiate at the World Rugby Sevens Repechage in Monaco on 19-20 June, which is the final Olympic qualification event at which the last two women’s and one men’s teams for Tokyo will be decided.
The men’s competition will take place from 26-28 July, with the women’s tournament following on the 29-31 July with the gold medal match happening on ‘Super Saturday’. All the action will take place at Tokyo Stadium, which was the venue for the opening match of Rugby World Cup 2019.
The full match official squad for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 rugby sevens is:
Men’s tournament:
James Doleman (New Zealand)
Craig Evans (Wales, Great Britain)
Francisco Gonzalez (Uruguay)**
Sam Grove-White (Scotland, Great Britain)
Nori Hashimoto (Japan)
Richard Haughton (England)***
Damon Murphy (Australia)***
Nehuen Rivero (Argentina)**
Matt Rodden (Hong Kong)
Damian Schneider (Argentina)**
Jordan Way (Australia)***
Women’s
Sara Cox (England, Great Britain)* & ***
Amy Perrett (Australia)*
Hollie Davidson (Scotland, Great Britain)***
Lauren Jenner (New Zealand)**
Adam Jones (Wales, Great Britain)
Paulo Duarte (Portugal)**
Tyler Miller (Australia)
Madeleine Putz (Australia)**
Tevita Rokovereni (Fiji)***
Selica Winiata (New Zealand)
Julianne Zussman (Canada)
*participated at Rio 2016 Olympic Games
**participated at Buenos Aires 2018 Youth Olympic Games
***participated at Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games
