Argentina’s rugby sevens team faced a deafening chorus of boos from the crowd as they took to the field against Kenya on the opening day of the Olympics at Stade de France.
The hostile reception comes in the wake of an escalating race row between Argentina and France.
Tensions flared after Chelsea midfielder Enzo Fernandez was caught on camera singing a racist chant during Copa America celebrations. The offensive song included stereotypes about the French squad, suggesting they were “all from Angola” or had “Nigerian” mothers and “Cameroonian” fathers.
Chelsea’s French defender Wesley Fofana slammed the video as “uninhibited racism,” while former French football captain Hugo Lloris described the chant as an “attack on French people” and called for lessons to be learned from this controversy.
Meanwhile, in Olympic football, Morocco triumphed over Argentina 2-1 in a dramatic men’s match that took four hours to conclude.
Fans hurled missiles at players after Argentina’s equaliser in the 16th minute of injury time made it 2-2. Players were then removed from the field before the equaliser was ruled out by VAR nearly two hours later. The match resumed for the final three minutes in an empty stadium.
England and Scotland get easy 2027 Rugby World Cup draws
During the draw, the 24 participating teams will be divided into six pools, each consisting of four teams. Notably, this draw will transpire before the regional qualifiers have concluded, resulting in a dual-world approach.
On one side, we have the twelve automatic qualifiers from the 2023 Rugby World Cup, confirmed by their names. On the other side, the regional qualifiers will be represented as Africa 1, Europe 1, Europe 2, and so forth.
Rugby World Cup 2027 is set to be hosted in Australia, marking the eleventh edition of the Men’s Rugby World Cup and the third time it will take place in Australia. The country previously co-hosted the inaugural Rugby World Cup with New Zealand in 1987 and served as the sole host in 2003.
With the current World Rankings in mind, let’s delve into how the 2027 Rugby World Cup will shape up via Rugby Centre.
2027 Rugby World Cup draw (Current rankings)
POOL A
- South Africa
- Australia
- Portugal
- Spain
POOL B
- France
- Fiji
- Tonga
- Chile
