World Rugby Announces Pool Draw For Hong Kong Sevens

World Rugby has announced the pool draw for the 2015 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens. Sixteen international teams will be competing for the HSBC Sevens World Series, which takes place from March 27 to March 29, 2015.

Fiji secured the top seed in Pool A after winning the fifth round of the series in Las Vegas, while runner-up New Zealand leads Pool B. South Africa and USA lead Pool C and Pool D, respectively.

Draw for the Hong Kong Sevens (March 27-29, 2015)

Pool A: Fiji, Canada, Samoa, Belgium

Pool B: New Zealand, Australia, Scotland, Portugal

Pool C: South Africa, France, Argentina, Japan

Pool D: USA, England, Kenya, Wales

Twelve other teams (two nations from Europe, Oceania, Africa, the Americas, South America and Asia) will be taking part in the core team qualifier event. The participating teams include Russia and Spain representing Europe; Guyana and Mexico representing North America and the Carribean; Papua New Guinea and Tonga representing Oceania; Brazil and Uruguay representing South America; Tunisla and Zimbabwe representing Africa and Hong Kong and South Korea representing Asia.

The Hong Kong Sevens is an annual tournament held in Hong Kong as part of the International Rugby Board, or IRB, Sevens World Series rugby sevens competition. Since the tournament’s inception in 1976, the only countries to have won the Cup are England, Fiji, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Samoa.

Complete Schedule of the 2014-2015 Sevens World Series (Host Nation/Date/Winner)

Australia - Oct. 11 to Oct. 12, 2014 - Fiji

United Arab Emirates - Dec. 5 to Dec. 6, 2014 - South Africa

South Africa - Dec. 13 to Dec. 14, 2014 - South Africa

New Zealand - Feb. 6 to Feb. 7, 2015 - New Zealand

United States - Feb. 13 to Feb. 15, 2015 - Fiji

Hong Kong - March 27 to March 29, 2015 - TBD

Japan - April 4 to April 5, 2015 - TBD

Scotland - May 9 to May 10, 2015 - TBD

England - May 16 to May 17, 2015 - TBD

The Sevens World Series also serves as a qualifier for the 2016 Summer Olympics. The top four countries at the end of the series will automatically qualify for the Olympics. Currently, South Africa, New Zealand, Fiji and Australia lead the 2014-2015 standings.

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