The 2011 Hong Kong Sevens

Hong Kong Sevens

The Hong Kong Sevens is considered the premier tournament on the IRB Sevens World Series in rugby sevens—a variant of rugby union....

was a seven-a-side rugby union

Rugby sevens

Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side or VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. Rugby sevens is administered by the International Rugby Board , the body responsible for rugby union worldwide...

 tournament, part of the 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series

2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series

The 2010–11 IRB Sevens World Series was the 12th annual series of rugby union sevens tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999–2000....

. The competition was being held from 25–27 March in at Hong Kong Stadium

Hong Kong Stadium

Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium it reincarnated as Hong Kong Stadium in 1994...

 in Hong Kong and featured 24 teams.

Teams

The following teams participated:

Security

Following an incident in 2010 when one spectator invaded the pitch, climbed onto the crossbars at the south end of the stadium before dodging back into the stands and disappearing, organisers stepped up security and announced a zero-tolerance policy of invaders in 2011. Out of concerns for safety, the local Rugby Union sent out notification that anyone entering the playing area who should not enter would be arrested by the police, instead of just being ejected from the arena.

Hong Kong Police said they received 28 reports of fans who had been victims of ticket fraud. The fans had bought the tickets from websites based in Australia, Dubai and England. The Wan Chai criminal investigation team is looking into the cases, which have been classified as "crimes outside Hong Kong." The Hong Kong Rugby Football Union confirmed that easily distinguishable bogus tickets, differing in both colour and font types, were found at the entrance to the venue. Their holders were refused entry.

Pool stage

Key to colours in group tables
	Teams that advanced to the Cup Quarter Final

Pool A

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
2011-03-25		61 – 0
2011-03-25		5 – 12
2011-03-26		40 – 7
2011-03-26		19 – 12
2011-03-26		41 – 14
2011-03-26		19 – 7

Pool B

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
2011-03-25		59 – 5
2011-03-25		24 – 19
2011-03-26		36 – 14
2011-03-26		33 – 14
2011-03-26		17 – 12
2011-03-26		37 – 12

Pool C

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
2011-03-25		64 – 0
2011-03-25		12 – 10
2011-03-26		40 – 7
2011-03-26		24 – 17
2011-03-26		41 – 0
2011-03-26		31 – 14

Pool D

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
2011-03-25		59 – 0
2011-03-25		5 – 22
2011-03-26		45 – 12
2011-03-26		29 – 14
2011-03-26		50 – 0
2011-03-26		40 – 0

Pool E

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
2011-03-25		33 – 5
2011-03-25		35 – 12
2011-03-26		28 – 5
2011-03-26		45 – 0
2011-03-26		7 – 24
2011-03-26		42 – 12

Pool F

Date	Team 1	Score	Team 2
2011-03-25		42 – 0
2011-03-25		21 – 22
2011-03-26		21 – 12
2011-03-26		26 – 24
2011-03-26		24 – 10
2011-03-26		21 – 14

Shield

Bowl

Plate

Cup

New Zealand, Fiji, England and Samoa reached the semi-finals round. Fiji facing the New Zealand All Blacks, the World Series leaders and favourites 19–14 while England faced Samoa. After Fiji and Samoa were knocked out, both by 19–14, New Zealand faced England in the final.

New Zealand triumphed 29–17 over England: Frank Halai put the All Blacks ahead with a try, and Mat Turner equalised for England. By half time, New Zealand nudged 12–5 ahead after Halai scored a second try.

At the end of the tournament, New Zealand lead England by five points in the World Championship. With 105 points, England remain well clear of Fiji and Samoa, who rank third-equal on 84 points.

Individual points

|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! colspan=4 style="border-right:0px;"; | Individual Points
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! width=5%|Pos.
! Player
! Country
! Points
|->

1	Cecil Afrika		>-	2	Hamish Angus		>-	3	Ben Gollings		45
4	Emosi Vucago		42
5-tie	Katsuyuki Sakai		40
5-tie	Andrew Skeen		40
7	Buxton Popoalii		37
8-tie	Dan Norton		35
8-tie	Kristian Phillips		35
8-tie	Tom Iosefo		35
8-tie	Vladimir Ostroushko		35

Individual tries

|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! colspan=4 style="border-right:0px;"; | Individual Tries
|- bgcolor="#efefef"
! width=5%|Pos.
! Player
! Country
! Tries
|->

1	Cecil Afrika		8
2-tie	Tom Iosefo		7
2-tie	Dan Norton		7
2-tie	Vladimir Ostroushko		7
2-tie	Kristian Phillips		7
6-tie	Seremaia Burotu		6
6-tie	Sibusiso Sithole		6
6-tie	Zach Test		6
6-tie	Emosi Vucago		6
10-tie	Greg Barden		5
10-tie	David Batiratu		5
10-tie	Alex Cuthbert		5
10-tie	Chris Dry		5
10-tie	Paul Emerick		5
10-tie	Ciaran Hearn		5
10-tie	Collins Injera		5
10-tie	Nikola Matawalu		5
10-tie	Declan O'Donnell		5
10-tie	Chauncey O'Toole		5

Women's tournament

The Cable&Wireless Worldwide Hong Kong Women's Rugby Sevens tournament, with all matches played on 25 March 2011, was won by Canada; France claimed runner-up. The Canadian team won all their matches: Playing pool matches against Japan, Chinese Taipei, and Russia, they triumphed 31-0, 64–0, and 40-7 respectively. Canada then defeated USA 26–5 to reach the finals. The French team, which had won against Hong Kong, Philippines, Netherlands and China to reach the final, lost to Canada by 28–14.

External links

• IRB Official Site