USA Sevens pools announced

Editor

The pools for the USA Sevens were drawn ahead of the Cup final of the Sydney leg of World Rugby Sevens Series on Sunday.

The fifth round of the World Series to be played on 4-6 March in Las Vegas will see Sydney-winners New Zealand heading Pool A at the Sam Boyd Stadium.

Sir Gordon Tietjens' side will face Kenya, Portugal and Russia in Pool A while Australia, runners-up on home soil in Sydney, meet England, Scotland and Japan in Pool B.

Ben Ryan's series-leading Fiji await Argentina, Samoa and France in possibly the toughest of the four pools, and an exact repeat of the Sydney event, in Pool C. 

The Pacific Islanders will be looking to extend their remarkable record of 39 victories from their last 39 pool matches when they hit American soil where they are defending champions.

Hosts USA, who ended the Sydney Sevens tournament with a 24-21 defeat to Kenya having held a 21-0 lead at half-time, are in Pool D and face South Africa, Wales and North American rivals Canada in a mouth-watering clash in Las Vegas.

Looking ahead to the Las Vegas tournament, USA stalwart Zack Test said: “Sydney was a disappointing tournament for us, we played our way in some matches, and lost our way in others. We’re gonna have to go back to San Diego and work really really hard at being a 14-minute consistent team now.

"With Vegas coming up that’s just for fuel for the fire though and we’re looking forward to it. But we have got to take a hard look at ourselves.

"Credit to Kenya they played well, but we just left too many holes. It’s always extra fire to play in Vegas and we will be looking to regroup and come out stronger.”

Pool A
New Zealand 
Kenya
Portugal 
Russia

Pool B
Australia
England
Scotland
Japan

Pool C 
Fiji
Argentina
Samoa 
France

Pool D
South Africa
USA
Wales
Canada