Tickets for the popular Wellington tournament sold out within 20 minutes online as the New Zealand rugby community looked to secure its chance to see the world’s finest exponents of the sevens game go head to head over the two days at the Westpac Stadium on February 1-2.
New Zealand, which enters the event eight points clear of Fiji after two rounds, is named as top seed and handed a tough draw as it faces last year’s winners Samoa, Canada and Papua New Guinea in a physical Pool A.
Second seeds Fiji, which finished runners-up to New Zealand in both Dubai and George, top Pool B where it will face a young England side, which could have sevens specialist Simon Amor returning, the Cook Islands and South Africa Bowl winners Wales.
South Africa heads into the event third in the standings after reaching the semifinals at both opening tournaments and top Pool C, where it will face France and Australia. However, the major threat in the pool could come from a resurgent Kenya, which defeated England on its way to the Cup quarter-finals in George.
Pool D is headed by Argentina, which has so far emulated its 15-a-side compatriots in impressing once more. Currently just four points behind South Africa in the overall standings, it faces Scotland, the physical Tongans and George Plate finalists USA.
“The scene is set for an incredible two days of competition,” says IRB Sevens Manager Beth Coalter. “Over 34,000 supporters will be packed into the Westpac Stadium, all no doubt hoping that home favourites New Zealand can make it three in a row this season.
“So far New Zealand have been in a class of their own but there’s a whole host of teams looking to spoil the party should they slip up including Fiji, South Africa, Argentina, England and last year’s winners Samoa. It will be an event not to be missed.
“All of the 12 core teams are capable of beating each other these days, it’s really incredibly competitive with the likes of Kenya, USA, Scotland, Australia, Wales and Tonga all capable of making that next step up. The Wellington event is always among the more competitive because of the high quality of the qualifying sides from the Oceania region and I’m sure nobody will be taking Papua New Guinea or the Cook Islands lightly either.
