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Henry Hutchison shoots for Tokyo

UNSW Bachelor of Commerce student Henry Hutchison is flying high after some great performances in the final two legs of the HSBC World Sevens Series.

Published on the 06 June 2019

UNSW Bachelor of Commerce student Henry Hutchison is flying high after some great performances in the final two legs of the HSBC World Sevens Series. A great team performance and a second place finish in London created some much needed confidence as the team attempts to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics over the coming months.

While the Paris tournament was disappointing for the Australian team with their equal lowest finish of the tour, Hutchison will still be pleased with his individual performance and is looking to be a lock for Tokyo, should Australia qualify.

With Australia finishing seventh overall in the World Sevens Series, they missed the opportunity to automatically qualify for the Games by finishing in the top four and will have to qualify through other means.

An additional six teams will be added through the men’s and women’s World Rugby regional association Olympic qualification tournaments. Regional association tournaments will take place in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, Oceania and South America from June-December 2019. The top ranked team from each regional tournament will secure qualification.

Australia's main rival in Oceania will be Samoa, who finished sixth at the World Sevens and will be desperate to nab that spot. 

The final opportunity for Olympic qualification will be at the World Rugby Olympic Repechage tournament. Twelve teams, comprising of the next two highest ranked teams based on 2019 regional qualification rankings from each region, will be invited to participate in these Olympic repechage tournaments. 

The repechage will take place at a time between the final regional qualification event and June 2020 with the overall winners of the men’s and women’s tournaments claiming the last available places for Tokyo 2020.

Australia's women's team look to have already secured their place in Tokyo, currently sitting in fourth position on the overall World Sevens Series ladder, 14 points above their nearest rivals France with one tournament remaining.