Welcome to a special Olympic edition of FTW Explains, where we break down the Olympic sports you are curious about, but don’t really understand. We won’t judge. Today we have rugby sevens.
Rugby sevens is a faster, pared-down version of rugby union, the version of the sport you have likely caught on TV. Though ruby union was played in the Olympics back when Calvin Coolidge was president, rugby sevens is making its Olympic debut in Rio.
As you may have guessed from the name, rugby sevens teams have seven players to a side. The games are seven minutes to a half, and the field is the same size as in rugby union.