Team of the Games: 2024 Paris Olympics Men's Rugby Sevens

For this article, we will be looking at the top performers from the 12 competing countries in the men's side of the tournament. We are going to piece together a team of the Olympics, that features the stars of Paris, with a certain French scrum half amongst the first names on the team sheet. We have cast our selection net far and wide across the Games, so whilst not all of the players in our dream team left Paris with silverware, they certainly left an imprint upon the rugby sevens landscape.

Here is RUCK's Men's Rugby Sevens Team of the Games, for the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Eclipsing his Ireland teammate Terry Kennedy to a place in our starting side, Chay Mullins was in formidable form across his first Olympic Games. The 22-year-old ran in a total of six tries for Ireland, and in doing so topped the scoring charts for his country. The youngest member of the Ireland squad, Mullins has given Connacht fans a glimpse of his exciting skillset, as the fullback has signed with the Irish province for the 2024/25 season after a run in the Bristol Bears academy.

Taking to rugby sevens with effortless aplomb, Selestino Ravutaumada was gifted a debut try for the Flying Fijians and only progressed on from there. Playing with the flair and physical prowess of a long-time sevens star, Ravutaumada contributed two tries for his team, as the Pacific Islanders ended the tournament as silver medallists. Whilst the Fijians would be devastated to have had their undefeated Olympic run ended by France, Ravutaumada would be happy with the impression he left upon the side for future tours.

Representing the side that in no time became everybody's second favourite team, John Okeyo enters the fray on behalf of the ultimate underdogs Kenya. The top scorer for the East African side with three tries, the Kenyans were beloved at the Games for their tireless work rate and entertaining try celebrations. From pulling out the Usain Bolt pose to a choreographed dance routine, Kenya certainly made their mark at the games, with Okeyo at the heart of the contributions.

Amongst the first names on our team-sheet, Antoine Dupont is steadily completing his quest of rugby world domination. Less than a year on from the heartbreak of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Dupont returned to the Stade de France and led Les Bleus to their first rugby sevens Olympic gold medal. Following on from leading France to their first HSBC SVNS title in 17 years, Dupont was France's joint-top scorer at the Olympics with four tries, with all important match-winners in the Gold Final. Dupont continues to craft his legacy to be remembered as the greatest of all time.

A legend of the sevens circuit, Perry Baker gave a star-studded performance fitting of the stars and stripes upon Team USA's jerseys. Unstoppable when given an inch of space, and uncatchable when he breaks away into the back-field, Baker's top contribution saw him run in four tries against Uruguay, which clinched the United States a place in the quarterfinals. Running in a total of six tries, to end the tournament as top scorer alongside Ireland's Chay Mullins, the 38-year-old still has gas in the tank and showed it at his second Games.

We've given the nod to the man nicknamed 'Henry Clutch-inson', as the Australian made a habit of making the all important plays in both attack and defence. For every searching run that led Hutchinson to his three tournament tries, the 27-year-old made crunching tackles against the likes of Fiji and South Africa. Devastated to miss out on the medals in the Bronze Final defeat to the Blitz Bokke, Hutchinson was beloved by the Parisian fans, and shone brighter in the gold jersey than his famous Brumbies teammate Corey Toole.

Two of the top performers from the South African squad shared the surname Davids, yet we have opted for Selvyn ahead of his impressive teammate Zain. Sevens fans were left in awe as the dreadlocked sprinter flew across the pitch, reaching top speeds of 35km/h and stunned the line breaking ball carriers with last ditch defensive tackles. Excelling in the sweeper role for the Blitz Bokke, there were few men capable of outrunning Davids, or keeping up with him that matter, as he ended the tournament as a Bronze medallist and South Africa's top scorer (three tries).

On to the impact players, and Fiji veteran Jerry Tuwai was playing with an undeniable passion as he heads towards the twilight of his illustrious sevens career. The 35-year-old is a beloved figure within the Flying Fijian set-up, and pulled the strings in the midfield to send his younger teammates like Josua Tuosova and Kaminieli Rasaku through on charging lines. Despite losing a step of pace since his Fiji debut a decade ago, Tuwai was still at his best in the silver-medal clinching campaign.

Wasting no time in establishing himself upon the world's stage, Motu Opetai holds the honour of scoring the first try of the 2024 Games, as he crossed over for a brace against Kenya. The midfielder was the top performer for Manu Samoa, who garnered the hearts and minds of the neutral fans whenever they took to the pitch. Joint top-scorer for his country alongside Vaa Apelu Maliko (three tries), Opetai gets the green light for his undeniable passion and tireless work rate in the Samoan royal blue.

The 2022 World Rugby Sevens player of the year was lighting up the pitch in Paris, and ushered on choruses of the Cranberries' hit 'Zombie' after each Irish win. 'TK' entered the Games riding a wave of momentum across the Irish sea, having already scored 32 tries in the 2023/24 HSBC SVNS series, and ended the league as the top try scorer. Kennedy contributed an additional three tries at the Paris games, and was more often than not involved in the build up to his teammates' scores.

The bleach blonde dynamo had all eyes on him before he'd even played a minute at the Stade de France, as Argentina received a frosty reception from the fans in Paris. Luciano Gonzalez Rizzoni took the boos in his stride, with his on-field performances elevated from the hostile atmosphere towards Los Pumas. The fiery wing scored the match-winner against the USA, to take his side through to the 5th vs 6th place off against New Zealand.

Rounding off our team for 2024 Paris Olympics, is the man who scored the crucial try, which took France to the Gold Medal Final. Aaron Grandidier Nkanang was not the best known figure in French rugby ahead of the games, with brief appearence at Brive being his early career in the Pro D2. However, with a gold medal around his neck and four tries to his name at the Games, France's joint top-scorer could well be fighting away offers from the Top 14, ahead of the new season.