11 sides heading to Hong Kong 7s

Brazil, Canada, China, France, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Papua New Guinea, Singapore and South Africa. Kenya will be on debut at the tournament, becoming the 37th international team to take part.

The tournament will be held at the Hong Kong Football Club on Friday, March 28, 2014 with the women??s final again taking centre-stage at the men??s Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on Friday evening in front of 40,000?˜ fans.

Of the participating teams, Canada and Ireland are core teams on the IRB Women??s Sevens Series with Canada looking to defend their title.

As always, Asia is well represented in the tournament with the hosts Hong Kong, China, Japan, Kazakhstan and Singapore all taking part.?˜ China and Japan qualified as Asia??s top two women??s sevens sides for Moscowat last year's World Cup?˜and are the current top-ranked teams in Asia, followed by Kazakhstan in 3rd place, Hong Kong in 4th place and Singapore in 5th place.

In Moscow, the Asian teams finished at the bottom of their respective pools making the Hong Kong Women??s Sevens and the ensuing IRB tournament in Guangzhou important opportunities for improving their international standing.

Hosts Hong Kong will enter the tournament with momentum after kicking off the professional era with Hong Kong??s inclusion into the Hong Kong Sports Institute elite athletes programme.?˜ Hong Kong have already managed to collect silverware in 2014, winning the women??s competition at the Darwin Sevens, including a win over the women??s development sevens team in the cup final.

Ruth Mitchell, Tournament Director said: ??The Hong Kong Women??s Rugby Sevens fills an important place on the international calendar, offering the teams going on to play in Guangzhou some high-calibre competition in the build-up to the fourth leg of the IRB Women??s Sevens Series, while at the same time giving Asia??s top teams vital exposure to competition against some of the world??s finest women??s sevens teams.

??Closer to home, the tournament involves girls from every level of our women??s rugby community with girls rugby games and opportunities for young players to volunteer as team liaison officers, ball girls and runners. By doing so, the tournament provides an incredible opportunity for younger players in Hong Kong to experience the excitement of sevens rugby and inspiration to try to develop their game to the elite level.

??We also look forward to continuing our tradition of showcasing some truly world-class women??s rugby to the 40,000 fans inside the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday night of the men??s Sevens,?? added Mitchell.

The draw is: