Preview: IRB Sevens, Hong Kong
Thu, 27 Mar 2008 10:03
Hong Kong hunters: Neil Powell (SA), Uale Mai (Samoa) and DJ Forbes (NZ)
Samoa's captain Uale Mai will become the most capped player of all time on the International Rugby Board (IRB) Sevens World Series when he leads his countrymen out for their opening match at the Hong Kong Stadium on Friday.
The diminutive playmaker will be playing in his 51st Series event, eclipsing the record currently held jointly with former New Zealand scrumhalf Amasio Valence Raoma.
Mai's 50 events have so far yielded 921 points, the fourth highest figure of all time behind only England's Ben Gollings, Fijian great Waisale Serevi and Valence Raoma himself. He is also just six short of scoring 100 tries.
While Samoa also line up with other match winners in Mikaele Pesamino and Lolo Lui, it is New Zealand and Fiji who start as favourites in Hong Kong.
Gordon Tietjens' New Zealand side has won 36 consecutive matches, a winning streak which has seen them capture six titles on the bounce - to first win back the series crown at the death last year and then take the firmest of grips on this year's title defence.
However, the Hong Kong crown has eluded Tietjens since 2001.
"There's a real hunger in the side to win here this year. We've played very well but Hong Kong is completely different because of its prestige and quite a few of the teams have strengthened, notably Fiji with William Ryder," said Tietjens.
"Of my players, none of them have won Hong Kong so that's the real driving challenge for them. Winning Hong Kong would mean everything to us and it would just about complete the World Series defence."
Fiji are certain to provide the kiwis with a stern test in Hong Kong. In the returning William Ryder and Lepani Nabuliwaqa they have two match winners, while Mosese Volavola, Nasoni Roko and captain Marika Vunibaka provide experience.
South Africa currently lie second in the overall standings after running the Kiwis close in San Diego in February.
The Boks are the most experienced squad in Hong Kong with 159 events between the 12 players - one ahead of Kenya with a combined 158 - but their over-reliance on the outstanding Fabian Juries could hinder their challenge.
Ahead of their home event in Adelaide next weekend, Australia have former Wallaby David Campese on board as assistant coach and hand debuts to promising youngster James O'Connor and exciting dual code Test veteran Andrew Walker, while the ever impressive Tongans count World Cup skipper Nili Latu in their squad.
Of the Northern Hemisphere sides the consistent Scotland outfit looks best placed to challenge.
Ben Addison returns to a side which is one of only three not to include a single Sevens debutant (Portugal and Zimbabwe are the others) and their pool draw looks favourable alongside Kenya, Portugal and China.
England famously won four consecutive Hong Kong titles between 2002 and 2006, but besides the vastly experienced Ben Gollings their squad is largely made up of academy players and members of this year's Grand Slam-winning Under-20 side and could ultimately suffer from a lack of experience.
Often in the past brothers have played side by side on the Sevens series, most notably all time leading try scorer Santiago Gomez Cora and brother Pablo, but surely never before have there been four sets of twins competing for the same title.
David and Diogo Mateus are two of Portugal's five World Cup players competing in Hong Kong and Robert and James Lewis will also line up together for Wales.
For Japan Kenichi and Shinichi Yokoyama both make their Sevens debuts, while New Zealand's Edwin Cocker could face the prospect of playing against his twin brother John, who lines up alongside World Cup captain Nili Latu for their native Tonga.
Hong Kong pools:
Pool A: New Zealand, USA, Tunisia, Chinese Taipei
Pool B: Samoa, England, Canada, Sri
Lanka
Pool C: South Africa, Argentina, Russia, Japan
Pool D: Fiji, Wales, Zimbabwe, Korea
Pool E: Kenya, Scotland, Portugal, China
Pool F: Australia, Tonga, France, Hong Kong
Fixtures:
(Kick-off time is local = GMT +8)
Day One - Friday, 28 March:
Match 1: Australia v Hong Kong, 16.30
Match 2: Kenya v China, 16.52
Match 3: Fiji v Korea, 17.14
Match 4: South Africa v Japan, 17.36
Match 5: Samoa v Sri Lanka, 17.58
Match 6: New Zealand v Chinese, 18.20
Match 7: Tonga v France, 19.10
Match 8: Scotland v Portugal, 19.32
Match 9: Wales v Zimbabwe, 19.54
Match 10: Argentina v Russia, 20.16
Match 11: England v Canada, 20.38
Match 12: USA v Tunisia, 21.00
Day Two - Saturday, 29 March:
Match 13: Tonga v Hong Kong, 10.30
Match 14: Scotland v China,
10.52
Match 15: Wales v Korea, 11.14
Match 16: Argentina v Japan, 11.36
Match 17: England v Sri Lanka, 11.58
Match 18: USA v Chinese Taipei, 12.20
Match 19: Australia v France, 12.42
Match 20: Kenya v Portugal, 13.04
Match 21: Fiji v Zimbabwe, 13.26
Match 22: South Africa v Russia, 13.48
Match 23: Samoa v Canada, 14.10
Match 24: New Zealand v Tunisia, 14.32
Match 25: France v Hong Kong, 14.54
Match 26: Portugal v China, 15.16
Match 27: Zimbabwe v Korea, 15.38
Match 28: Russia v Japan, 16.00
Match 29: Canada v Sri Lanka, 16.22
Match 30: Tunisia v Chinese, 16.44
Match 31: Australia v Tonga, 17.06
Match 32: Kenya v Scotland, 17.28
Match 33: Fiji v Wales, 17.50
Match 34: South Africa v Argentina, 18.12
Match 35: Samoa v England, 18.34
Match 36: New Zealand v USA, 18.56
Day Three - Sunday, 30 March:
Match 37: Bowl quarterfinal, 09.45
Match 38:
Bowl quarterfinal, 10.07
Match 39: Bowl quarterfinal, 10.29
Match 40: Bowl quarterfinal, 10.51
Match 41: Plate quarterfinal, 11.13
Match 42: Plate quarterfinal, 11.35
Match 43: Plate quarterfinal, 11.57
Match 44: Plate quarterfinal, 12.19
Match 45: Cup quarterfinal, 12.41
Match 46: Cup quarterfinal, 13.03
Match 47: Cup quarterfinal, 13.25
Match 48: Cup quarterfinal, 13.47
Match 49: Bowl semifinal, 14.48
Match 50: Bowl semifinal, 15.10
Match 51: Plate semifinal, 15.32
Match 52: Plate semifinal, 15.54
Match 53: Cup semifinal, 16.16
Match 54: Cup semifinal, 16.38
Match 55: Bowl Final, 17.25
Match 56: Plate Final, 17.52
Match 57: Cup Final, 18.20
With thanks to the IRB
