Official Draw Made for 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens

The Official Draw for the Cathay Pacific / Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2008 was held at The Rotunda of Hong Kong’s Exchange Square on Thursday. With the four IRB Sevens World Series tournaments played to date having been won by New Zealand, the 30 points on offer for the Cup Champions at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens 2008 could be the last bid to derail the Kiwis’ unmistakable momentum. Adding to the excitement is the event’s US$150,000 prize purse, the most lucrative on the IRB Sevens World Series.

New Zealand leads the IRB Sevens World Series with 80 points, followed by South Africa in second on 48 points. Fiji, the plate winners in San Diego and losing cup finalists in Dubai and George (South Africa) are in third place with 44 points, followed by defending Hong Kong Sevens champions Samoa, who reached their first cup final of the season in Wellington, on 38 points.

In line with IRB Sevens rules, the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens 2008 Official Draw sees the top 12 participating teams seeded based upon their results in the previous two IRB Sevens World Series tournaments, where teams are tied they are ranked based on Series points from the 2007/08 Series. The remaining participating teams have been seeded or placed in the draw based on performances in IRB Sevens World Series events and other IRB ratified tournaments, along with their final standings (where relevant) in the 2006/07 Series. All seeds have been ratified by the IRB.

By virtue of their record-setting series performance to date, (winning all four events on the IRB Sevens World Series 2007/2008 circuit), New Zealand is the tournament top seed and heads Pool A. New Zealand will meet the tournament’s 12th overall seed the United States in Pool A, along with Tunisia and Chinese Taipei.

Defending Hong Kong Sevens champions and cup finalists at the Wellington Sevens, Samoa, are the second seed and top seed in Pool B. The Samoans will face a titanic challenge from four-time Hong Kong winners England in its bid to defend its title in 2008. Canada and Sri Lanka round out the pool.

In Pool C, South Africa, who won the Wellington Sevens Plate and reached their first cup final of the season in San Diego are matched against the tournament’s 10th seeds, Argentina. Russia and Japan complete the pool.

Pool D sees Fiji, 11 times winner of the Hong Kong Sevens, taking on the ninth seeds Wales, winner of the Plate at both the 2006 and 2007 Hong Kong events. Zimbabwe, returning to the Hong Kong Sevens for the first time since 1998, and Korea complete the pool.

Pool E features fifth tournament seed Kenya, fresh from a cup semi final appearance in San Diego, taking on the tournament’s 8th seed Scotland. Portugal and China are the remaining two teams in Pool E.

Traditionally one of the toughest pools due to the seeding structure of the Hong Kong Sevens, Pool F features 6th seed Australia in a head-to-head clash with 7th seeded Tonga, cup semi finalists in Wellington. France and the hometown side Hong Kong were also drawn into the final grouping in the third and fourth tiers respectively.

The Cathay Pacific / Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens 2008 will be played from March 28 to March 30, 2008 at the sold-out 40,000-seat Hong Kong Stadium.

See the Fixtures of the 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens PLUS Pictures from the Sevens and Results from the First Day of the 2008 Hong Kong Sevens, Results from the Second Day of the 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and of course Results from Day Three of the 2008 Hong Kong Rugby Sevens and other recent news regarding: Travel News Asia, Rugby Sevens, Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Pictures of the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens, Hong Kong