Highlights | Hong Kong 7s Day 2

Photo: World Rugby

After day two of the Hong Kong 7s, seven of the top eight teams qualified for the Cup quarter-finals tomorrow. New Zealand will play Wales, USA face South Africa, Fiji take on Kenya and England play rivals Australia on Sunday.  In the bowl quarter-finals, France play Korea, Argentina play Russia, Canada face Samoa and Scotland plays against Portugal.

POOL A

New Zealand topped Pool A after a 5-0 win against Kenya and a 28-10 victory over Samoa. Samoa, Kenya and France all finished on five points, but due to points difference Kenya advanced into the last eight. 

POOL B

Despite South Africa’s lost to England on day one, the Blitzbokke regained their form and secured two wins with 81 unanswered points against Russia and Scotland. England beat Scotland 19-0, but just managed to draw against Russia. 

POOL C

USA are in superb form at the moment remaining unbeaten on day two. They beat Argentina 26-14 and Australia 22-7 resulting in a Cup quarter-finals against South Africa. Despite a loss to USA, Australia's 45-7 win over Portugal plus a 28-0 win over Argentina on day one gave them sufficient points to go through into the last eight and face England. 

POOL D

Fiji underlined their incredible strong performance with three out of three wins. Beating Canada on day one, followed by a comfortable 57-0 win against South Korea then went on to overpower Wales 36-10. Wales won 24-10 against Canada and their day one victory over South Korea secured them second place in the Pool and a quarter-final match up with New Zealand. 

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Hong Kong Sevens Qualifier

Photo: World Rugby

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Hong Kong 7s | Results Day 2

Hong Kong 7s | Fixtures Day 3

Hong Kong 7s Qualifier | Results Day 2

Hong Kong 7s Qualifier | Fixtures Day 3

Highlights | Hong Kong 7s Day 1

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England ended the first day of the legendary Hong Kong Sevens with a confidence boosting 21-14 win against South Africa. On day one the teams played the first round of the pool games in front of a huge sell-out crowd:

Hong Kong 7s | Results Day 1

POOL A

SAMOA 0 : 24 KENYA

NEW ZEALAND 19 : 17 FRANCE

POOL B

SCOTLAND 28 : 15 RUSSIA

SOUTH AFRICA 14 : 21 ENGLAND

POOL C

USA 21 : 5 PORTUGAL

AUSTRALIA 28 : 0 ARGENTINA

POOL D

WALES 40 : 14 KOREA

AUSTRALIA 28 : 0 ARGENTINA

Hong Kong 7s Qualifier

Photo: World Rugby

In addition to the World Sevens Series, Hong Kong is also the qualifier-tournament to determine next years' 16th core team. On day one the 12 teams proved once again how tier 2 and tier 3 nations improved in previous years. Zimbabwe, Spain and Japan took the lead in their respective pools but there is still a lot to play for on day two. The second day of the competition kicks-off tomorrow at 9am local time (2am UK time).  

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Hong Kong 7s | Results Day 1

Hong Kong 7s | Fixtures Day 2

Hong Kong 7s Qualifier | Results Day 1

Hong Kong 7s Qualifier | Fixtures Day 2

Preview | Hong Kong 7s

Photo: World Rugby

The World Sevens Series stops in Hong Kong this weekend. It is the premier tournament and it doesn’t get much bigger than during the 7th round of the series where so much is at stake. A competition full of global superstars including Sonny Bill Williams, Nick “the Honey Badger” Cummins and even a Superbowl winner awaits 120,000 spectators over the next three days. Parallel to the main competition, 12 teams will determine the 15th core team for the 2016-17 World Series. 

WHERE AND WHEN?

The Hong Kong Sevens take place at the Hong Kong Stadium (Capacity 40,000) in So Kon Po, Hong Kong, from Friday 07th until Sunday 09th of April.  

The matches kick-off on Friday at 18:10 local time (11:10 UK time), Saturday 11:18 local time (04:18 UK time) and Sunday at 09:30 local time (02:30 UK time). 

See the full fixture list here.

WHERE CAN I SEE IT?

In the UK Sky Sports will cover the tournament on all days. For a full TV guide click here, for any other country check out this handy guide.

WHO’S THE FAVOURITE?

Fiji, South Africa and New Zealand are still the dominating teams this season with just a point between each of them. In addition Hong Kong is traditionally a place that favours teams from the southern hemisphere. In the previous five years Fiji won there three times, while rivals New Zealand secured two cups. Therefore a tournament win by any other team then the top-three or Australia who currently sits in fourth position, would be a surprise.   

ONE TO WATCH

Once again this is a weekend with an extremely exciting line-up of world-class players. Much has been written about Superbowl winner Nate Ebner who will start for the USA for the first time this weekend. Ebner is an experienced rugby player but spend most of his sporting career playing American Football for New England Patriots. It will be interesting to see how this transition works which certainly could become a precedent for the future.   

WHO’S LEADING?

It’s close at the top. Fiji (106 points) are just a point in front of South Africa (105) followed by New Zealand (104). The next best team is Australia with 90 points. See the full standings.

New report predicts bright future for 7s

Photo: World Rugby

A new report by the World Series main sponsor HSBC has just given a fascinating insight to the bright future of 7s. The document analyses the history of the sport and shows the reasons for its rapid growth on a global scale. 

With the biggest and best year of rugby sevens ahead, the Olympic inclusion is clearly the main reason for the success. 

“Sevens is now played in more than 100 countries worldwide, and boasts a competitive women’s game, which is also the fastest growing sport in the United States. Sevens is now included in all of the significant regional and global multi-sports competitions.”

The report also provides seven predictions for 2026 including a player participation of up to 15 million, a huge growth in the women’s game and an even more nations to break through to the top competitions.

Throughout the document you can find many interesting views from rugby experts and influencers. One of them is England’s World Cup winning coach Clive Woodward, who hits the nail on the head with his statement:  

“Sevens is this sleeping giant of rugby. I think it can really help the game develop on a world level… Rio will be the springboard to take it global”

The report makes it clear; the game of 7s has a very big future.

Download the full report.

Highlights | Canada Sevens Day 2

Photo: World Rugby

In our Canada Sevens preview on Friday we predicted that the All Blacks will bounce back after the Las Vegas 7s, where they “just” won the Plate trophy. And indeed, Gordon Titjens side proved once more to be the team with the best qualities. 

In a breath-taking Cup final New Zealand beat their close rivals South Africa 19-14. In the overall standings, they move to 104 points and close the gap on series leaders Fiji (106) who finished fourth after losing to Australia in the third place play-off to just two points. South Africa remains second on 105 points.

In the other finals Samoa won the Plate, Canada won the Bowl and Russia took home the Shield. Vancouver proved to be a world class location for the biggest-ever HSBC Sevens Series, with a beautiful stadium, excellent playing conditions and a stunning 60,418 fans who delivered a great atmosphere.

The next stop of the series is the world famous Hong Kong Sevens from 4th-6th of April. 

Canada Sevens | Results

Cup Final | South Africa 14-19 New Zealand

Plate Final | USA 19-31 SamoaJapan 7-27 

Bowl Final | France 17-19 Canada

Shield Final | Russia 17-10 Portugal

Quick Links

Canada Sevens | Results

HSBC Sevens Series | Standings

Hong Kong Sevens | Pools & Fixtures