Rugby makes return at Youth Olympics

The sport of rugby will return to the Youth Olympics program after a 90-year gap when the second Summer Youth Olympic Games open on Saturday in Nanjing, Jiangsu province.

The 15 versus 15 game originally played in the early years of the Olympics was dropped from the program in 1924.

In 2009 the International Olympic Committee voted to re-admit the sport. It voted to use the 7 versus 7 version of the game called Rugby Sevens. It will be played in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, Brazil.

The Nanjing youth event will be the first time rugby sevens has appeared on an Olympic Program. There will be six men’s teams and six women’s teams.

The sevens game is exciting and fun, easy to watch and understand and will be a great attraction at the Olympic games says Jean de Villiers of South Africa, the winner of the 2007 rugby World Cup in an interview with International Rugby Board.

Rugby sevens follows most of the same rules as the full version of the game.

Argentina, Fiji, France Japan, Kenya, and the United States will take part in the men’s competition in Nanjing.

Australia, Canada, China, Spain, Tunisia and the US will compete in the women’s event.

There will be an initial round robin stage where teams will compete twice a day. Three points will be awarded for a win two for a draw and one for a defeat. The top four teams from the group stage will make the semifinals.

Matches will consist of two seven minute halves. Scoring occurs more frequently than the full 15 versus 15 version of the game as there are more defenders.

The story is broadcast by Eric Jou.

（中國日報網英語點津 Helen 編輯）