Wednesday, November 23, 2011

The start of the 2011/2012 HSBC 7s World Series!

After a super exciting Rugby World Cup, it’s now time to switch to sevens!

The 2011/2012 HSBC Sevens World Series starts this weekend in Queensland, Australia. Adelaide has been replaced by the Gold Coast, with the new venue hoping to attract thousands of fans over Friday 25 & Saturday 26 November. The success of the Sevens Circuit has seen one additional tournament added this year, that being Japan. The format now has three back-to-back tournaments to start the Series, then the usual double headers rounding out the year. 

"This is another massive year for Sevens and by the time this Series ends in London, we'll all be entering the four-year cycle leading to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which is hugely exciting and promises to present a massive opportunity for the entire Rugby family.” - Beth Coalter, IRB Tournament Director. 

Based on last year’s finish, the top 5 teams include New Zealand, South Africa, England, Fiji, and Samoa. The interesting aspect in sevens is that anyone of the top teams can beat each other on any given day. South Africa and England have both named squads without any new-capped players, which bodes well with experience proving key at these major tournaments. Past winners in Australia include: Fiji (2007), South Africa (2008 & 2009), Samoa (2010) and last year, New Zealand. 

Round 1: Pools - Gold Coast, Australia 
Pool A: New Zealand, Fiji, Kenya, Niue 
Pool C: Samoa, Argentina, France, Papua New Guinea 
Pool D: England, Wales, Scotland, Tonga 
[Click on each team above to see what items are available from World Rugby Shop!]

As always, there will be some massive clashes on day 1 of the tournament, especially the top two seeds in each pool. Then on day 2, pool A collides with pool D, which could see a couple different quarterfinal scenarios: New Zealand take on Wales/Tonga and Fiji taking on England. In the other cross over, South Africa play Samoa, while Australia/USA are up against Argentina. Sliding through into the semi finals, I would guess it to be New Zealand vs. South Africa and England vs. Australia/USA. The finalists: England against South Africa… 

But remember, it’s sevens, so don’t take anyone’s word for it! 
For more information on the HSBC World Sevens Series visit the IRB website.


The 2011/2012 HSBC Sevens World Series 
Round 1: Australia – 25/26 November 2011 
Round 2: Dubai – 2/3 December 2011 
Round 3: South Africa – 9/10 December 2011 
Round 4: New Zealand – 3/4 February 2012 
Round 5: USA – 10/12 February 2012 
Round 6: Hong Kong – 23/25 March 2012 
Round 7: Japan – 31 March / 1 April 2012 
Round 8: Scotland – 5/6 May 2012 
Round 9: England – 12/13 May 2012 
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Columnist Dallen Stanford played 54 matches for the USA on the IRB World Sevens Series from 2006-2009, including 13 IRB Sevens tournaments and the 2009 Sevens World Cup in Dubai. Stanford was the USA Eagles Team Media Manager for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, and currently works for the Tackling Cancer Foundation and Play Rugby USA.