HONG KONG—The draw for the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Ruby Sevens to take place on April 7-9, was completed at the Hyson Centre, Causeway Bay, on Monday March 13, 2017.
Participating guests officiating tonight’s draws included Christine Loh, Under Secretary for the Environment and Yeung Tak Keung, Sports Commissioner, for the Hong Kong Government.
They were joined by Martin Murray, Director of Finance for Cathay Pacific Airways and Kevin Martin, Regional Head of Retail Banking and Wealth Management, Asia Pacific for HSBC. Peter Duncan and Pieter Schats, respectively President and Chairman of the Hong Kong Rugby Union, also officiated in the ceremony.
With the addition of the Qualifier, the Hong Kong Sevens remains the largest men’s tournament on the series, with 28 teams playing across three days. Including the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series Qualifier, there will be a total of 40 international teams participating in Hong Kong during Sevens Week.
The 2017 Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens tournament will feature 70 men’s matches and for the first time ever, the semi-finals of the Women’s Sevens Series Qualifier will be played in the Hong Kong Stadium, alongside the Cup Final, which has been played in the stadium since 1998, for a total of 73 matches across the weekend.
Main Draw
Sixteen teams will take part in the Hong Kong Sevens: England, South Africa, Fiji, USA, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Argentina, Samoa, Kenya, Wales, Scotland, South Korea, France, Japan and Russia.
The highlight from the draw is New Zealand being placed in the same group as last year’s tournament winners, Fiji. As well as sparking some outstanding matches in the Pool games, this will put particular pressure on Wales who are also in Pool C, it looks like being particularly tough on Japan. Pool A should also produce some top play comprising England, Australia and Samoa, South Africa should dominate Pool B but they have not shown their full potential at the Hong Kong in recent years. Pool D looks like producing some well-balanced matches.
Draw results: Pool A – England, Australia, Samoa and South Korea; Pool B – South Africa, Canada, Kenya and France; Pool C – Fiji, New Zealand, Wales and Japan; Pool D – USA, Argentina, Scotland and Russia.
