With just 10 days to go until the Blitzboks will start the defence of their 2021 crown in the hotly anticipated kick-off of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2022, the pools and match schedule have been announced for the Emirates Dubai 7s on 26-27 November.
Dubai will host the opening two rounds of the 2022 Series over consecutive weekends with the first played behind closed doors and the second, on 3-4 December, open to the public with a large, noisy and enthusiastic crowd expected to fill the Sevens Stadium and bring energy and excitement to the stands.
The 12 team men’s competition will follow the Olympic format with three pools of four teams each, while the 10 team women’s event sees the teams divided into two pools of five.
In the men’s event Pool A includes Fiji, fresh from retaining their Olympic title in Tokyo, together with Australia, Canada and France.
Pool B sees Olympic bronze medallists Argentina play Kenya, Spain and the USA. Kenya will arrive in Dubai on good form after reaching the medal podium in both 2021 Series events, with silver in Vancouver and bronze in Edmonton. The USA were beaten finalists in Dubai in 2019, when they finished the Series as runners-up.
In Pool C the 2021 Series Champions South Africa will take on Ireland, Great Britain and Japan, who were promoted as HSBC World Rugby Challenger Series champions in 2020. South Africa will be in confident mood following their perfect win record during the pair of HSBC Canada Sevens events in September.
New Zealand’s men’s and women’s teams, who won the respective Series titles in 2020, and Samoa’s men’s team are unable to participate in Dubai due to the challenges of the Covid-19 travel logistics.
Meanwhile due to the ongoing uncertainly surrounding the travel restrictions associated with the global COVID-19 pandemic it has been decided that the Cathay Pacific/HSBC Hong Kong Sevens originally planned to take place on 1-3 April will be rescheduled to 4-6 November 2022, when it will serve as the opening event of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2023.
Hong Kong will host a second event in the 2023 Series six months later in its traditional April window, doubling the enjoyment of this popular event for fans. World Rugby is considering potential options for a replacement event in the 2022 Series and further information will be shared in due course.