2024 could easily have been a case of ‘after the Lord Mayor’s show’ following a World Cup year, but it was anything but that with another bumper year at both Test and club level.
Olympic Games
500,000 – The number of tickets sold across the full week of Olympic Sevens. The shortened format was a roaring success in France, with record-high attendances on multiple days, including 69,000 for the opening day of the men’s tournament and 66,000 for the women’s.
389 – Across both the Men’s and Women’s tournaments, 389 tries were scored in total. 180 of those came from the men’s, with 209 coming from the women’s.
2 – This Olympic Games saw two new teams medal for the first time. In the Men’s game, Antoine Dupont and the rest of the France squad won their country’s first-ever medal in Sevens as they took home the Gold, and the USA also earned their maiden Olympic medal for Sevens as Ilona Maher and her team won Bronze in the women’s tournament.
70 – That’s the total number of points eventual World Rugby Women’s Sevens Player of the Year Maddison Levi scored in her six outings at the Olympics. She notched a whopping 14 tries for Australia on their way to a fourth-placed finish.
35 million – That’s how many people watched Ireland’s Erin King lift teammate Emily Lane above her head from a restart in a brilliant feat of strength.
3 million – Speaking of social media, rugby’s biggest star was 𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 at the Olympics this year, with USA Women’s player Maher shooting up to become the most followed rugby player on social media. After her exploits for the USA on their journey to a Bronze Medal and her time on Dancing with the Stars, the latest Bristol Bears recruit has gained a mammoth 3 million followers and is now pushing north of 4 million on Instagram alone.
The Year of the Springbok
Breakthrough stars announced on world stage
