Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 Cup and Bowl Champions to Face Off in Hong Kong

 

 

Australia and China, the Cup and Bowl champions respectively at the first ever Rugby World Cup Women’s Sevens played last weekend in Dubai, are on a collision course at the Hong Kong as the Cable & Wireless Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens (HKWRS) after the Official Tournament Draw was held at the office of the Asian Rugby Football Union in Hong Kong.

Ten fully international women’s sevens sides, including the Arabian Gulf, Australia, China, Guam, Hong Kong, Japan, Papua New Guinea, Singapore, Thailand and Tunisia, will take part in the prestigious competition, which is celebrating its 12th year in 2009. The Tournament will be played on Friday, March 27, 2009 at Hong Kong Football Club, with the Cup final held at the Hong Kong Stadium on the same evening, (kick-off at 6:42pm), as part of the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens.

This year’s tournament has again attracted some of the premier national representative teams from around the globe with half of the tournament field having participated in the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009. Those teams include Cup and Bowl winners Australia and China, as well as Japan, Thailand and Tunisia on their HKWRS debut this March. With all three of Asia’s Rugby World Cup Sevens finalists participating, there is an excellent chance for an Asian side to reach a Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens Cup Final for the first time in the 12 years of the event in 2009.

For the draw, the 10 participating teams were divided into two pools of five teams each. Australia and China, were seeded based on their past results in the Hong Kong Women’s Rugby Sevens and other international and Asia regional women’s sevens competitions.

Pool A is the “Group of Death” with China, (RWC7s Bowl Winner and Bowl Winner of the 2008 HKWRS), Japan (HKWRS Bowl finalist in 2008), Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Thailand, Asia’s third representative at the recent Rugby World Cup Sevens. Australia heads Pool B alongside the Arabian Gulf (AGRFU), Singapore, Tunisia and Guam.

The Hong Kong Women’s Sevens Team will be announced on Saturday, March 21, 2009.

Please follow the link about the Draw, Schedule and Results.

Images: Singapore Women's Rugby and Andy Young

Text: Elite Step Asia Ltd.

This article is also available in the following Country/s. Thailand, Singapore, Japan, Hong Kong, Guam, China