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Six glorious days of competition at the Deodoro Stadium showed that while favourites Fiji and Australia struck gold in the men’s and women’s events respectively, there were plenty of upsets along the way – not least when Japan stunned the All Blacks Sevens in the pool stages. Japan were truly inspired in Rio, belying their seeding of 10th to finish fourth. The main differences in their performances in Rio compared to that seen on the world series centred around a strategic approach which recognised the importance of retaining possession and playing at a high tempo. The Rio 2016 Olympic Games were a game-changer for rugby, projecting the sport to new audiences and attracting new fans in record numbers through the compelling, universally-competitive and sometime unpredictable action that rugby sevens is proven to deliver.GAME ANALYSIS – RIO 2016 OLYMPIC GAMESLEFTJapan played at a high tempoRIGHTAustralia were an unstoppable force in RioJAPAN SURPRISEThe competitiveness of the men’s event can also be seen in the comparison of the scoring margins of the medal quarter-finals and semi-finals at the Olympic Games and the Cup quarter-finals and semi-finals on the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2015-16.WINNING MARGINSJapan won more possession than any other team across the whole competitionThey also played at pace with the third-highest passing rate and the fourth-highest rucking rateThey kicked the least – just twice in the whole competitionMATCHES WON BY MARGIN OF FIVE POINTS OR FEWERQuarter-finals/semi-finalsRio 2016 67%World Series 33% OverallRio 2016 41%World Series 32%78 WORLD RUGBY YEAR IN REVIEW 2016EDUCATE | GAME ANALYSIS