Hong Kong 7s draw March 22-24

The official draw for the biggest ever Hong Kong Sevens was held in

Hong Kong on the 21 February 

- Hong Kong to host biggest ever IRB Sevens tournament
- 28 teams to compete across two competitions
- 12 regional teams to battle in World Series core team pre-qualifier

The IRB has confirmed the pool draw for round six of the HSBC

Sevens World Series, the 2013 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong

Sevens, on 22-24 March.

The draw took place at Hysan Place in Hong Kong and also included

the core team pre-qualifier draw alongside the main 16-team

competition which features the 15 core sides and Asian Sevens

Series champions and hosts Hong Kong.

The hosts will play matches with Spain, Fiji and Canada in Pool D,

while USA Sevens champions South Africa meet reigning Rugby

World Cup Sevens champions Wales, Argentina and Australia in Pool

A.

Current Series leaders New Zealand were drawn alongside USA,

France and Kenya in Pool D, while Samoa, Scotland, England and

Portugal make up Pool C.

So far this season, five different teams have won the five

tournaments. Fiji won the Series opener in Australia, Samoa lifted

the Dubai Sevens title, New Zealand won in South Africa, England

won in Wellington and South Africa were crowned champions at the

most recent tournament in Las Vegas.

As the Series heads to Hong Kong, New Zealand top the table with

96 points, ahead of South Africa (76), Samoa (71) and Fiji (66).

With the addition of the core team pre-qualifier, the Cathay

Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens remains the largest tournament on

the HSBC Sevens World Series with 28 teams.

The 2013 tournament marks the largest field ever hosted in the 38

-year history of the Hong Kong Sevens and the first increase in the

number of participating teams since the 24-team format was

adopted in 1984.

The HSBC Sevens World Series pre-qualifier being played in Hong

Kong will comprise 12 teams, including two regional champions from

all six Rugby regions recognised by the IRB.

In the pre-qualifier, the participating teams will be playing for the

right to advance as one of the top four teams from that competition

to the London Sevens at Twickenham in May 2013. Those four

teams will be joined by Hong Kong, who earned an automatic

exemption to the London Sevens as Asian champions.

In London, these five teams will pair off against the bottom three

placed teams on the Series standings in an eight-team final

qualification tournament after the penultimate Series event in

Scotland. The top three teams from the London Sevens qualifier will

gain core team status on the HSBC Sevens World Series in

2013/2014.

Core team pre-qualifier:

Pool E: Tonga, South America 1, Tunisia, Chinese Taipei
Pool F: Japan, Georgia, South America 2, Jamaica
Pool G: Russia, Zimbabwe, Cook Islands and Mexico


*The South American teams will be known after the CONSUR

Sevens Championship in Rio de Janeiro on 23-24 February.