Dubai Rugby Sevens: Top seeds Fiji favourites in men's competition

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has confirmed the pools for the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens, which will be staged at The Sevens Stadium from December 4-6.

The event will feature the second round of the men’s HSBC Sevens World Series, and the first round of the IRB Women’s Sevens World Series, both of which will be hugely significant for all teams with the battle for Olympic spots heating up.

At the end of the 2014/15 World Series, the top four finishers in both the men’s and women’s series’ will qualify directly for the 2016 Rio Olympics.

In the men’s draw, top seeds Fiji, who won the Dubai leg last year and defeated Samoa to win this year’s first round of the men’s HSBC Sevens World Series on Australia’s Gold Coast on October 12, have been drawn alongside Argentina, France and Brazil.

Fiji will be the favourites in the men’s draw after romping to the Gold Coast title despite fielding as many as four debutantes in the side that beat Samoa 31-24 in the final.

Fiji is in fine form after also defeating New Zealand to win the Oceania Sevens at the beginning of October.

Samoa, victors in Dubai in 2012, head Pool B where their biggest opponents will be New Zealand, who have stumbled early in their quest to retain the overall men’s HSBC Sevens World Series title.

The All Blacks Sevens were beaten 31-7 by England in the Gold Coast quarter-finals, but recovered their poise to win the Plate title.

Scotland and Asian Games gold-medalists Japan are the other two teams in this pool.

England, who finished fourth in the Series last year, head Pool C where their toughest opponents appear to be Australia.

Gold Coast Bowl division winners USA and Round 1 Shield runners-up Kenya round off what could be one of the toughest pools in Dubai.

South Africa will be the favourites to advance from Pool D.

The Blitzboks were second behind New Zealand in the overall standings last season and took gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, and are expected to account for Wales, Canada and Portugal.

In the women’s draw, the team to beat will be New Zealand, who will be bidding for a third successive IRB Women’s Sevens World Series title. The other teams in this pool include Russia, the United States, and China.

Australia will head up Pool B. Winners in Dubai last year, Australia finished a mere four points behind New Zealand in the World Series rankings, after New Zealand won three legs to Australia’s two.

Spain will be the other team to watch out for in this group which also includes France and South Africa.

Canada, third in the overall standings last season, will head Pool C ahead of England. The two outsiders in this pool are Fiji and Brazil.

“We have been privileged to see many fiercely-contested matches over the years at the Emirates Airline Dubai Rugby Sevens. However, what adds some extra spice to this year’s tournaments in Dubai is the race to snap up direct Olympic qualification spots,” said Jim Fitzsimons, Tournament Director.

“The draw here offers some really exciting match-ups right from the group stage, in both the men’s and women’s divisions. There’s lots of potential for upsets as well, which means no team can take anything for granted. Fans can once again look forward to exciting and closely-fought encounters,” he added.

Tickets are now on sale for the three-day annual rugby extravaganza, and huge crowds are once again expected to attend one of the region’s favourite sporting and social occasions of the year. 

For all the information about the event and tickets go to www.dubairugby7s.com

In the Men’s draw, the 16 teams are drawn into four pools of four teams each. In the round-robin preliminary format, they play the other teams in their pools once. The top two teams go through to the Cup and Plate Quarter-Finals. The others go into the Bowl and Shield divisions.

Men’s Pools:

Pool A: Fiji, Argentina, France, Brazil
Pool B: Samoa, New Zealand, Scotland, Japan
Pool C: England, Australia, USA, Kenya
Pool D: South Africa, Wales, Canada, Portugal

In the Women’s draw, the 12 participating teams are divided into three pools of four each. At the end of day one, the teams are ranked 1 to 12. The top eight teams play each other in the Cup and Plate Quarter-Finals. The teams ranked 9 to 12 meet in the Bowl Semi-Finals.

Women’s Pools:

Pool A: New Zealand, Russia, USA, China
Pool B: Australia, Spain, France, South Africa
Pool C: Canada, England, Fiji, Brazil

 

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