Olympics: Rugby Sevens Makes Olympic Debut

RIO DE JANEIRO, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 6th August, 2016) - France's Marjorie Mayans made history Saturday with the tournament's first try as rugby sevens made its debut at the Olympic Games. Mayans was put through for an easy run in past a stretched Spanish defence after three minutes of play in front of a sparse crowd of barely 1,000 at the 15,000-capacity Deodoro Stadium that included World Rugby president Bill Beaumont. World Rugby says it has sold two-thirds of the tickets for the sevens tournament.

It was the first time since 1924 that rugby has been played at the Olympics and the debut for sevens, the previous four incarnations featuring men's 15-a-side tournaments. Despite ambitious attempts by the stadium announcer to get the crowd to sing along to Neil Diamond's 'Sweet Caroline', adopted on the global Sevens Series as one of the sport's anthems, there was a muted reception for the two teams in blistering condition with temperatures hitting 30 degrees celsius (84F).