Preview - World Cup Sevens

Can Serevi sign off on a high?

Are you not entertained? Surely a full weekend of Six Nations, Super 12 and Celtic League is enough for even the most ardent lover of this daft old sport. Apparently not - rugby's 'brilliant' administrators have decide to chuck in the World Cup Sevens ... purely for your viewing pleasure!

Players have voiced their concerns about the physical side-effects of too much rugby, and now fans can empathise - expect an outbreak of numb bums, square eyes and groggy constitutions.

But heck, it's all good fun (except for those journos staring down the barrel of a 72-hour shift) and Hong Kong will swagger majestically through the weekend. If only it didn't have to share the stage with the climax of the Six Nations (that's the last whinge, I swear).

Sevens rugby has come along way since a Scottish butcher by the name of David Sanderson failed to find 15 hearty lads to form a team.

This weekend, some 120 years later, an estimated global audience of 700,000,000 will watch as 24 nations - comprising 288 finely tune athletes - compete for the Melrose Cup.

This will be the fourth edition of the tournament, and if IRB Sevens form is anything to go by, we will not have a new winner this year.

England - fuelled by beer and pork scratching - shocked the world by winning the inaugural tournament in Scotland in 1993, Fiji took the honours in 1997 in Hong Kong, and New Zealand are the current world champions after claiming victory in Argentina four years ago.

New Zealand, Fiji and England currently occupy the top three positions in the 2004/05 IRB Sevens standings, and the smart money will be on one of these team to hoist the silverware come Sunday.

But World Cups are entirely different kettles of fish, and Sevens luxuriates in thumbing its nose at the form books.

Watch out for Samoa and South Africa, Glen Ella's new-look Australia, Scotland, and some of the 'minnows' like Kenya and Tunisia who have indulged in some serious giant-slaying this season.

But it is the reigning champs who are the undisputed favourites. New Zealand have won the last three IRB Sevens tournaments and are well on their way to claiming their sixth consecutive title.

Whilst the Kiwis' chief rivals have augmented their side with a host of professional XVs players or proven Sevens stars, coach Gordon Tietjens has kept to the young side that romped to victory in George, Wellington and Los Angeles.

But the decision to stay loyal to the youngsters is more accident than design, and stems from the fact that most of the Super 12 players that Tietjens approach chose to stay at home.

"We've got to kick along from that - you put those disappointments behind you, frustrations I suppose, and put your belief in the players you've got ... I've done that," Tietjens told NZPA.

"The squad members are all proven Sevens players now. I didn't want players who didn't want to be here anyway. So it's worked out for the best, I believe, anyway."

So is there a chink in the New Zealand armoury? England captain Simon Amor would like to think so - his side has won third consecutive titles in Hong Kong, and will rue leaving the former British enclave without a fourth.

"Winning here has been our main aim for the last year to be honest, so we've targeted this, and that's reflected in the squad picked, and the amount of preparation that's gone into this," he said.

Amor return to Sevens action after being injured in Dubai, and joins England international Henry Paul and Pat Sanderson, and speedy wingers Ugo Monye and Richard Haughton.

In Ben Gollings, England possess the leading points scorer in IRB Sevens history - but his reign at the top of the heap could be short-lived. 

Gollings had the audacity to pinch the record off Fiji's Waisale Serevi, and the undisputed master of the abbreviated game returns to Hong Kong to reclaim what many Sevens fans regard as rightfully his - the points record and the Melrose Cup.

And if witnessing the great man's swansong is not worth losing sleep over, what is?

Pool Groups
Pool A	Pool B	Pool C	Pool D
New Zeland	England	Fiji	Argentina
Scotland	Samoa	Australia	South Africa
Tonga	France	Canada	Kenya
Ireland	Italy	Portugal	Tunisia
Korea	Georgia	Japan	Russia
USA	Chinese Taipei	Hong Kong	Uruguay

Rugby World Cup Sevens 2005
(All times are GMT)

Day One schedule:

Match 1: 00:15 - Kenya v Uruguay  (Pool D)
Match 2: 00:37 - Canada v Hong Kong (Pool C)
Match 3: 00:59 - France v Chinese Taipei (Pool B)
Match 4: 01:21 - Tonga v USA (Pool A)
Match 5: 01:43 - Tunisia v South Africa (Pool D)
Match 6: 02:05 - Portugal v Australia (Pool C)
Match 7: 02:27 - Italy v Samoa (Pool B)
Match 8: 02:49 - Ireland v Scotland (Pool A)
Match 9: 03:11 - Russia v Argentina (Pool D)
Match 10: 03:33 - Japan v Fiji (Pool C)
Match 11: 03:55 - Georgia v England (Pool B)
Match 12: 03:17 - Korea v New Zealand (Pool A)
Match 13: 03:39 - Uruguay v South Africa (Pool D)
Match 14: 04:01 - Hong Kong v Australia (Pool C)
Match 15: 04:23 - Chinese Taipei v Samoa (Pool B)
Match 16: 04:45 - USA v Scotland (Pool A)
Match 17: 05:07 - Russia v Kenya (Pool D)
Match 18: 05:29 - Japan v Canada (Pool C)
Match 19: 06:51 - Georgia v France (Pool B)
Match 20: 06:13 - Korea v Tonga (Pool A)
Match 21: 06:35 - Argentina v Tunisia (Pool D)
Match 22: 06:37 - Fiji v Portugal (Pool C)
Match 23: 07:19 - England v Italy (Pool B)
Match 24: 07:41 - New Zealand v Ireland (Pool A)
Match 25: 09:18 - South Africa v Russia (Pool D)
Match 26: 09:40 - Australia v Japan (Pool C)
Match 27: 10:02 - Samoa  v Georgia  (Pool B)
Match 28: 10:24 - Scotland v Korea (Pool A)
Match 29: 10:46 - Tunisia v Uruguay (Pool D)
Match 30: 11:08 - Portugal v Hong Kong (Pool C)
Match 31: 11:30 - Italy v Chinese Taipei (Pool B)
Match 32: 11:52 - Ireland v USA (Pool A)
Match 33: 12:14 - Kenya v Argentina (Pool D)
Match 34: 12:36 - Canada v Fiji (Pool C)
Match 35: 12:58 - France v England (Pool B)
Match 36: 13:20 - Tonga v New Zealand (Pool A)

Day Two schedule:

Match 37: 02:20 - Tunisia v Russia (Pool D)
Match 38: 02:42 - Portugal v Japan (Pool C)
Match 39: 03:04 - Italy v Georgia  (Pool B)
Match 40: 03:26 - Ireland v Korea (Pool A)
Match 41: 03:48 - Argentina v Uruguay (Pool D)
Match 42: 04:10 - Fiji v Hong Kong (Pool C)
Match 43: 05:01 - England v Chinese Taipei (Pool B)
Match 44: 05:23 - New Zealand v USA (Pool A)
Match 45: 05:45 - South Africa v Kenya (Pool D)
Match 46: 06:07 - Australia v Canada (Pool C)
Match 47: 06:29 - Samoa  v France (Pool B)
Match 48: 06:51 - Scotland v Tonga (Pool A)
Match 49: 07:13 - Uruguay v Russia (Pool D)
Match 50: 07:35 - Hong Kong v Japan (Pool C)
Match 51: 07:57 - Chinese Taipei v Georgia (Pool B)
Match 52: 08:19 - USA v Korea (Pool A)
Match 53: 08:41 - Kenya v Tunisia (Pool D)
Match 54: 09:03 - Canada v Portugal (Pool C)
Match 55: 09:25 - France v Italy (Pool B)
Match 56: 09:47 - Tonga v Ireland (Pool A)
Match 57: 10:09 - South Africa v Argentina (Pool D)
Match 58: 10:31 - Australia v Fiji (Pool C)
Match 59: 10:53 - Samoa  v England (Pool B)
Match 60: 11:15 - Scotland v New Zealand (Pool A)

Day three schedule:

Match 61: Quarter-final Bowl, 02:30   
Match 62: Quarter-final Bowl, 02:52   
Match 63: Quarter-final Bowl, 03:14   
Match 64: Quarter-final Bowl, 03:36  
Match 65: Quarter-final Plate, 03:58 
Match 66: Quarter-final Plate, 04:20 
Match 67: Quarter-final Plate, 04:42 
Match 68: Quarter-final Plate, 05:04 
Match 69: Quarter-final Melrose Cup, 06:05   
Match 70: Quarter-final Melrose Cup, 06:27   
Match 71: Quarter-final Melrose Cup, 06:49  
Match 72: Quarter-final Melrose Cup, 07:11  
Match 73: Semi-final Bowl, 07:33 
Match 74: Semi-final Bowl, 07:55 
Match 75: Semi-final Plate, 08:17 
Match 76: Semi-final Plate, 08:39 
Match 77: Semi-final Melrose Cup, 09:01 
Match 78: Semi-final Melrose Cup, 09:23 
Match 79: Final Bowl, 10:10
Match 80: Final Plate, 11:00
Match 81: Final Melrose Cup, 11:30

By Andy Jackson