Groups announced for HK 7s 2017

By Shamseer Jaleel

Sri Lanka will participate at the Hong Kong Rugby Sevens which will be worked off at the Hong Kong Stadium from 7 to 9 April. From the inception of this world famous sevens tournament in 1976, Sri Lanka was invited for tournament.

Though Sri Lanka was invited in the following few years, due to a drop in form, and changing into World Series, the islanders lost out the exposure and the opportunity to participate.

But this year, due to ending on number two behind Hong Kong at the Asian Sevens Series in 2016, Sri Lanka got their berth to participate in the World Rugby Sevens World qualifier. There will be 12 teams around the globe locking horns in the three group event along with the main 16 team event. The winner in the qualifier round will book their berth for the World Series in 2017/2018.

The Sri Lanka sevens outfit who are currently playing at the Borneo Rugby Sevens are expected to be led by Dhanushka Ranjan. Fiji are the defending champions at the Hong Kong Sevens with 16 wins followed by New Zealand (11), Australia (5) and England (4).

HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series – Round 7 (Hong Kong)

Pool A – England, Australia, Samoa, South Korea

Pool B – South Africa, Canada, Kenya, France

Pool C – Fiji, New Zealand, Wales, Japan

Pool D – USA, Argentina, Scotland, Russia

World Rugby Sevens Series Qualifier

Pool E – Tonga, Uganda, Germany, Jamaica

Pool F – Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile, Namibia

Pool G – Papua New Guinea, Uruguay, Guyana