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Japan and Kazakhstan have withdrawn from the
2012 HSBC Asian Sevens Series’ Shanghai Sevens (22-23 September at Yuanshen Stadium).
The withdrawals have forced an adjustment to the
standard four pool, twelve-team tournament structure in place for
all HSBC Asian Sevens Series (HSBC A7s) events.
The tournament will now be played under a
two pools of five teams each format. Pool matches will be held all
day on Saturday and on the morning of Sunday before the teams
proceed to straight knock-out competition.
The withdrawal of Japan and Kazakhstan has also
seen the tournament pools amended for Shanghai with Hong Kong and
China, the second and third-ranked teams on the HSBC A7s, being
re-seeded as the top seeds in Pool A and B respectively.
Defending Shanghai Sevens champion South Korea,
who finished fourth overall in Borneo, is now ranked as the second
best team in Pool A and the third overall seed for Shanghai,
followed by Borneo Plate champions Chinese Taipei as the second
ranked side in Pool B.
Sixth placed side the Philippines and eighth
ranked UAE have been seeded into the third line of Pool B and A
respectively, while ninth and tenth-ranked Sri Lanka and Malaysia
are in the fourth line of Pool A and B. Eleventh-ranked Thailand
completes Pool B, while 12th overall side Singapore is the fifth
and final team in Pool A.
Hong Kong and China enter the Shanghai Sevens as
the form teams, but South Korea won in Shanghai in both 2010 and
2011 and should again present a threat in 2012. South Korea
blooded several new players in Borneo but will look to add some
veteran players as they set out for a three-peat in Shanghai.
Korea coach Seo Chun-Oh, who successfully lead
South Korea back to its customary second ranking in Asia at this
year’s HSBC Asian 5 Nations (15s), commented on the team’s
performance in the opening leg, saying, “We are pleased with the
results from Borneo because it was the first outing on the HSBC
Asian Sevens Series for many of the team. Although our target was
to take third, our inexperience showed against China and the
players will be better for having one tournament under their
belt.”
Coach Seo has addressed the dearth of experience
in the squad ahead of Shanghai by bringing back some veterans into
the squad for the second ranking event of this year’s Series.
“Our target is again to reach the Cup semis and
hope that our luck in Shanghai holds for a third year. We will
bring back some of our more experienced sevens players into the
squad and I expect that one-third of the 12-man team will be
veterans of our win in Shanghai last year. With the HSBC Asian
Sevens Series rankings determining the final seedings for the
Rugby World Cup Sevens qualifier in Singapore, it is essential to
get a good finish at every tournament. We must reach the
semi-finals at a minimum so Shanghai is going to be a huge
tournament for us,” said Seo.
Japan, current leaders of the HSBC A7s after
winning the Borneo Sevens, has withdrawn from the tournament due
to the uncertain security situation in Shanghai. As Japan’s
withdrawal is due to an issue that is effectively beyond the
control of the Japanese Rugby Football Union and the Asian Rugby
Football Union (ARFU), ARFU will compensate the team for the lack
of opportunity to take points from Shanghai.
Following the completion of the Mumbai Sevens
(Oct 13-14), ARFU will award an aggregate of points for Japan in
lieu of competing in Shanghai. The points total will take into
consideration Japan’s final standings in Borneo and Mumbai to
award Japan HSBC A7s series points for Shanghai.
Kazakhstan will
receive no points from Shanghai.
Series points are increasingly vital on this
year’s HSBC A7s as the final standings following the penultimate
event in Mumbai will determine the tournament seeding for the
fourth and final HSBC A7s event in Singapore. That event, which
while non-ranking is doubling as the Asian qualifier for the Rugby
World Cup Sevens 2013. Three Asian teams will qualify for the
world championships in Moscow next June.
It was also announced this week by the
International Rugby Board and the Hong Kong Rugby Football Union
that the top overall finisher on this year’s HSBC A7s will earn
the right to compete alongside the existing HSBC Sevens World
Series teams in a 16-strong core team competition at the
world-famous
Cathay Pacific HSBC Hong Kong Sevens next March.
In addition to the Shanghai Sevens, the China
Rugby Football Association will also play host to the second leg
of the HSBC ARFU Coaching Tour on this year’s HSBC A7s Series.
After a successful start to the Tour in Borneo, where clinics were
held for over 1,300 youth from 41 local schools, the Tour will
look to replicate its efforts in Shanghai. HSBC ARFU Coaching Tour
Clinics are being run for over 1,200 youth in Shanghai throughout
the week in conjunction with local sports-focused charity Sport
For All and local schools in Shanghai.
The Coaching Tour is a compelling
grassroots-rugby initiative co-sponsored by HSBC and ARFU. With a
target to reach 12,000 youth in 2012, the Tour has already engaged
nearly 7,000 youth across nine countries and territories since the
start of the HSBC Asian 5 Nations, (Asia’s premier 15-aside
international rugby competition), in April, most of them with
little or no experience of rugby.
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