Pools for Commonwealth Games

The four pools have been announced for the Commonwealth Games Rugby Sevens tournament that will be played on March 16 and 17 in Melbourne, Australia, next year.

Sevens rugby is a core sport of the Commonwealth Games and it enjoyed huge crowds in Manchester in 2002. Sevens is also a participant sport in most other major multi-sport Games, including the World Games and Asian Games.

Tournament top seed is New Zealand, who under coach Gordon Tietjens won its sixth consecutive IRB Sevens series last season. New Zealand also travels to Melbourne as defending Commonwealth Games champions, having won the gold medal in Manchester in 2002.

New Zealand is joined in Pool A by Kenya, Wales and Namibia.

The 2005 Rugby World Cup Sevens champions and 2005 World Games champions Fiji, who won the silver medal in Manchester in 2002, are second seeds.

Waisale Serevi's men pipped England to second spot in the 2004/05 IRB Sevens series and head a competitive Pool B, which will see Fiji face Scotland, Canada and Zambia.

England top Pool C as third seeds and are sure to face a committed challenge from home favourites Australia, who have made no secret of the fact that the Melbourne showpiece looms large in their rugby calendar next year. The Cook Islands and Sri Lanka complete this fascinating Pool line-up.

Pool D is headed up by South Africa, who finished the 2004/05 IRB Sevens season strongly with victory at Twickenham, London. John Schusters Samoan outfit will provide South Africa with a stern challenge in a tough pool that also comprises Tonga and Uganda.

As was the case for the 2005 RWC Sevens, the selection of the top eight seeds was determined by the most recent IRB Sevens rankings, namely the final standings in the 2004/05 season.

The remaining eight places were allocated using a number of considerations including IRB sevens results since 2002, RWC Sevens qualification results, regional Sevens competitions and the likely strength of squads made available for the Games.

Seedings:
1 New Zealand
2 Fiji
3 England
4 South Africa
5 Samoa
6 Australia
7 Scotland
8 Kenya