Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Teams and pools announced for 2008 NZI Sevens


New Zealand have drawn a tough pool despite being the top seeds for the NZI Sevens in Wellington on Friday 1 and Saturday 2 February.New Zealand enter the tournament having stolen a march on their rivals by winning the opening two rounds in Dubai and George, South Africa. They head to Wellington for the event on February 1-2 eight points clear of their nearest rivals, Fiji, and preparing to face Samoa, Canada and Papua New Guinea in a physical pool A. Samoa won the Wellington tournament this year. Second seeds Fiji, runnersup to New Zealand in both Dubai and George, top pool B where they will face a young England side, who could have sevens specialist Simon Amor returning, the Cook Islands and South Africa bowl winners Wales. South Africa head into the event third in the standings after reaching the semifinals at both opening tournaments and top pool C, where they will face France and Australia. However, the major threat in the pool could come from a resurgent Kenya, who beat England on their way to the cup quarterfinals in George. Pool D is headed by Argentina, who are just four points behind South Africa in the overall standings. They face Scotland, the physical Tongans and the United States in pool D. Pool A: New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Papua New Guinea. Pool B: Fiji, England, Wales, Cook Islands. Pool C: South Africa, Kenya, Australia, France. Pool D: Argentina, Scotland, United States, Tonga.


Mr Walters believes that New Zealand’s stiffest opposition will come from Fiji and South Africa, although Samoa will also be hungry to defend the title they won in Wellington in 2007.Wellington is the third leg of the 2007/08 IRB Rugby Sevens World Series.


Wellington 1 - 2 February 2008

San Diego 9 - 10 February 2008

Hong Kong 28 - 30 March 2008

Adelaide 5- 6 April 2008

London 24 - 25 May 2008

Edinburgh 31 May - 1 June 2008

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