The next leg of the Women's Sevens World Series in China April 5th & 6th sees a few changes in terms of who is playing. China, Fiji and France are in (both France and Fiji last played on the Dubai leg of the series) and Argentina, The Netherlands and Japan out as compared to Brazil 7s. Argentina had replaced China from Atlanta to Sao Paulo.
New Zealand has what appears to be the easiest pool with China, Brazil and Spain; it may end up more of a storyline to see if any team can put up any points against them in the pool round. Australia has it a tad tougher with England, Ireland and Fiji; this bracket could be quite unpredictable with the opportunity for some upsets. The USA has an extremely tough draw with Canada, Russia and France in Pool C as Canada and Russia have finished in the top 4 of each of the three previous tournaments to date. It is also a chance to make waves if the Eagles can maintain the gains they've made in regards to team play and cohesion. It is possible, though it seems a longer shot based on the strength of their pool, to see the Eagles make the Cup round again.
The Stars will be particularly interested to see how Fiji does as their side will also be at Central Coast 7s in Australia in October - time to get some scouting work in!
Here's more from the iRB:
Schedule announced for China Sevens in April
Australia will hope to bring their form from Brazil
into the next round in China in April
The pools and schedule for the next round of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series in China have been announced.
Following
on from a successful round three in Brazil, the series visits the
University Town Stadium in Guangzhou on April 5 and 6.
The pool draw sees a series of exciting match-ups on day one, before the knockout stages on Day two.
It
will be an important weekend for the Series - there's nothing to
separate rivals Australia and New Zealand who are both on 56 points,
eight points ahead of Canada in third place.
Pool A sees last year's champions New Zealand drawn against Spain, Brazil and hosts China.
Australia
come into round four on a high after winning round three in Sao Paulo
in February, and they're drawn in Pool B alongside England, Ireland and
Fiji.
Pool C has drawn Canada in a tough group where they'll face Russia, USA and France.
IRB
Head of Competition and Performance Mark Egan said: "The Road to Rio is
getting shorter and Guangzhou is another opportunity for these players
to get quality competition time ahead of the Olympic Games in 2016."
"The
third round in Sao Paulo saw yet another fantastic final between
Australia and New Zealand, and I expect fans in Guangzhou will witness
another excellent weekend of Rugby at the University Stadium."
All the action from the fourth round of the IRB Women's Sevens World Series in Guangzhou will be streamed live on wsws.irb.com from 10am on Saturday April 5 (GMT +8)
Australia,
Canada, England, Ireland, New Zealand, Russia, Spain and USA are core
teams on the 2013/14 IRB Women’s Sevens World Series after reaching the
quarter-finals of Rugby World Cup Sevens 2013. The eight core teams
compete across all rounds of the Series.
IRB Women's Sevens World Series 2013/14: Dates and Venues:
First leg: Dubai, United Arab Emirates - November 28-29, 2013
Second leg: Atlanta, Georgia, USA - February 15-16, 2014
Third leg: Arena Barueri, São Paulo, Brazil - February 21-22, 2014
Fourth leg: Guangzhou University Town Stadium, Guangzhou, China - April 5-6 2014
Fifth leg: National Rugby Centrum, Amsterdam, Netherlands - May 16-17, 2014
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