Twelve teams from five continents will be taking part in the Hong Kong Women’s Sevens 2015, the 18th anniversary of this pioneering women’s rugby competition.
To draw the teams into pools, the 12 teams were ‘grouped’ based on their current ranking on the World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series as well as rankings in other regional competitions and past performances at the Hong Kong Women’s Sevens.
The results of the draw are: Pool A
Canada
Argentina
Samoa
Mexico
Pool B
China
Hong Kong
Kazakhstan
Singapore
Pool C
Japan
Netherlands
Papua New Guinea
Tunisia.
A little groan and a few ironic laughs were heard as the all Asian pool B took shape – the Hong Kong players had been looking forward to taking on some new opponents – having played all three teams in their group several times recently.
This year’s tournament is a two day event on the 26-27th March. After the pool games the top 8 teams will go into the Quarter-finals which are a knock-out format with the final at the HK Stadium in front of 40,000 fans.
Hong Kong women’s sevens coach Anna Richards, who was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2014, is looking forward to the tournament, noting the strength of Women’s Sevens World Series teams China and Canada and exciting newcomers Mexico and Argentina, who she said “strengthened the competition”.
Hong Kong Women’s Squad 2015
Hong Kong Women’s Rugby 7s When: 26-27 March, 2015 Where: 26- Kings Park; 27- Hong Kong Football Club; Final – HK Stadium How much: Free More info: facebook.com/hkwr.sevens
The women’s game goes from strength to strength globally as well as locally. A reflection of this is that the world’s oldest women’s rugby 7s tournament returns to its original two day format. bc spoke to tournament mother Ruth Mitchell as her baby turns 18.
What does a two day tournament offer, especially to the players, that a single day event doesn’t? Originally the tournament was a two day event. It was changed to a single day because of constraints on pitch availability and other logistics. Over the last few years we have been asked several times to expand it back again to two days as most tournaments are a two day event. The advantages are:
Teams get to play extra games and time to rest in between
Our own Sports Institute girls gain more game time against stronger teams
Teams are travelling from all over the world it makes it more worth while expanding the tournament to a two day event.
Provides a more meaningful competition because overall rankings are more accurate.
Rugby week is already pretty packed, how will a two day tournament fit in, will the final still be at the Stadium.
Thursday 26th will be played at Kings Park alongside the Youth Tournament.
Friday 27th will be played at HK Football Club with the final being played at the HK Stadium.
How will the format change? The format will not change too much other than giving more games to the teams. It will still be based on a pool competition followed by knock out. Pool matches will be at Kings Park with the finals at HKFC and the Cup Final at the stadium. The schedule is still under review.
Which teams have confirmed for 2015? Just waiting for the 12th team to confirm their attendance, we will then release the full team list.
Have you thought of including some select teams in a parallel tournament to the main event event where local players and women’s rugby veterans and stars could play – something similar to the HK Tens? We did this last year at the Kowloon Fest where four teams took part. However, as you mentioned, it is a packed week and trying to fit in all the current tournaments can be a challenge.
Funding seems to be a factor in getting some teams to the tournament, with the women’s game expanding globally at a fantastic rate is getting sponsorship becoming easier? There is no indication that sponsorship is getting any easier. There continues to be increasing demands on sponsorship from every quarter.
Beyond 2015 how do you hope the tournament will develop? Each year the Tournament is under review to see how we can improve and to fit in with other tournaments that are being played. The HKWR7’s is a great tournament for teams to be playing ever stronger teams, as all teams are looking to play on the World Rugby Women’s Sevens World Series as well as qualifying for the Olympics.
HKWR Sevens 2014 Team
Hong Kong Women’s Rugby 7s When: 26-27 March, 2015 Where: 26- Kings Park; 27- Hong Kong Football Club; Final – HK Stadium How much: Free More info: facebook.com/hkwr.sevens
Hong Kong Women’s Rugby 7s When: 26-27 March, 2015 Where: 26- Kings Park; 27- Hong Kong Football Club; Final – HK Stadium How much: Free More info: facebook.com/hkwr.sevens
Hong Kong Women’s Rugby 7s When: 26-27 March, 2015 Where: 26- Kings Park; 27- Hong Kong Football Club; Final – HK Stadium How much: Free More info: facebook.com/hkwr.sevens
