Draw announced for Wellington Sevens

The names have been pulled out of the hat and the Wellington 7s will again be a riper as quality plays class over the 2 days.

Wellington's Westpac Stadium on 6-7 February 2009 is the place to be, the atmosphere is loud, costumes are outrageously amazing and the rugby is absolutely scintillating.

In the match ups we have some interesting games, South Africa are top seeds in Pool A, as they should be after their form winning the first 2 titles. NZ head Pool B that has a strong Oceania blend with 3 teams from the region. Pool C is all boys from the northern parts of the globe and Pool D has a strong Island feel with Fiji, Samoa and the Cooks taking on the best of the USA.

Last year saw some super power from NZ, they were given a severe test of character from Samoa in the final, but overall they dominated events in front of their loyal and very vocal home supporters. Victor Vito in particular was a flying ball of muscle and proved near impossible to put on the turf, as host NZ will be looking to again tap into the hearts of the crowd and ride the wave of support as they did last time around.

08 matches also saw some big scalps taken, the Cook Islands accounted for the English with a fabulous try in the dying seconds and with a stadium packed with all the worlds super heroes, the crowd certainly back the underdog and they will be looking to again get behind the lesser known teams & help them dish out more treatment against the big boys of world 7s.

With the Rugby World Cup Sevens fast approaching at the beginning of March, and following hot on the heels of the Series events in Wellington and San Diego a week later, 2009 is set to be a massive year for Sevens," said IRB Sevens Manager Beth Coalter. 

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“It will also be intriguing to see whether any of the teams start drafting in any big-name 15-a-side players ahead of the World Cup. 

"With the IOC also set to make its decision about the 2016 Olympic Games programme later in the year, whichever way you look at it 2009 is set to be an extra special one for Sevens, and the whole of rugby."

Whichever way we look at it these 2 days will be the place to stamp a mark on your intentions for the World Cup of 7s a month later. Everyone will be eager to take this psychological advantage over the others and this just puts more zing in the already world class event in Wellington.


Pools are:

Pool A is South, Kenya, Scotland and Tonga.
Pool B is New Zealand, Australia, Wales and Niue
Pool C is England, Argentina, France and Canada
Pool D is Fiji, Samoa, USA and the Cook Islands