Pools set for Hong Kong
The draw for the Hong Kong Women’s 7s has taken place with Canada, England, Australia and USA seeded as the top four sides in the four-pool competition.
Published by Scrum Queens, March 5th, 2012
3 minute read
Twelve teams will battle it out for the IRB Challenge Cup in the 15th edition of international womens 7s in Hong Kong.
The tournament is the second IRB sanctioned Womens International Sevens tournament this season following Dubai and preceding London ahead of the start of an official World Series next year.
The teams were seeded from 1 12 based on their performance in the IRB Challenge Cup debut tournament in Dubai or, for teams not participating in Dubai, on the strength of their most recent performances.
The seedings are as follows: Canada, England, Australia, USA, Spain, Netherlands, China, Brazil, Russia, Japan, Hong Kong and Tunisia. Following the seeding the tournament was drawn with three teams in each of four pools.
Pool Asees Canada, the current IRB Challenge Cup holders and reigning Hong Kong Womens Rugby Sevens champions, drawn as the top seeds alongside Brazil, host of the 2016 Summer Olympics where Rugby Sevens will make its Olympic debut, and Russia, host of the 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens, which will also feature a womens competition.
Pool Bsees England, the reigning European womens sevens champions, drawn with Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 Bowl champions China. China is currently the top-ranked team in Asian womens sevens after winning the Asian Rugby Football Unions (ARFU) Asian Womens Sevens championships in Pune, India in October 2011. Japan, the third-ranked team in Asian womens sevens, are the third seeds in Pool B.
Pool Cis topped by Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 winners Australia, followed by The Netherlands and the hosts Hong Kong, the fifth ranked team in Asian womens sevens.
Pool Dfeatures another womens rugby powerhouse in the United States alongside Spain, winners of the Plate Final in Dubai, and Tunisia.
China and Kazakhstan, ranked number one and two in Asian Womens Sevens, have also earned invites to the concluding IRB Challenge Cup event in London, England in May, 2012.
Ruth Mitchell, Tournament Director of the IRB Challenge Cup Hong Kong and the winner of the IRB and ARFU Womens Personality of the Year awards in 2011, commented on the draw saying, The tournament draw has thrown the competition wide open with some exciting matches in store. It will be interesting to see how some of the top Asian teams in womens sevens perform against what is one of the most competitive fields we have assembled in the 15-year history of the Hong Kong Womens Rugby Sevens.
Four womens games at the tournament will be played front of the 40,000 strong crowd at the Hong Kong Stadium.
The Plate Final will be played at 18:12 on Friday, (March 23), while the Cup Semi Finals will be played consecutively starting at 11:42 on Saturday, (March 24) with the Cup Final held at 16:50 on Saturday at the Hong Kong Stadium.