Tough Pool Draw For Ireland Women At Dubai Sevens

Ireland face a tough debut in the Women’s Sevens World Series with the announcement of the pools for the Dubai Rugby Sevens next month.

Twelve international sides from across six continents will compete, with top teams New Zealand, England and Canada heading the three pools. Eight core teams will compete across all rounds of the series.

Ireland qualified as a core team thanks to their top eight finish at the Rugby World Cup Sevens in Moscow back in June. The other core teams are Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Russia, Spain and USA.

The girls in green have been drawn in Pool A alongside defending champions New Zealand, Fiji and USA. This is another step up in terms of experience for the squad as they aim for success and a possible trip to the Olympics.

Ireland will prepare for Dubai with a number of weekend camps and invitational tournaments, in the Netherlands this weekend and France over the coming weeks.

IRB Chairman Bernard Lapasset said: “Last season’s inaugural IRB Women’s Sevens World Series was a great success and we’re very excited about building on that solid foundation after a Rugby World Cup Sevens which was also extremely hard-fought.”

“The Women’s Series gives these nations the rigorous and regular international competition they need to build their programmes as they countdown towards Rugby Sevens’ Olympic debut in 2016.”

2013/14 IRB WOMEN’S SEVENS WORLD SERIES:

Round 1 – UAE: Dubai, November 28-30, 2013, 7he Sevens Stadium

Round 2 – USA: Atlanta, Georgia, February 15-16, 2014, Kenshaw State University

Round 3 – Brazil: Barueri Sao Paulo, February 21-22, 2014, Arena Barueri

Round 4 – China: Guangzhou, April 5-6, 2014, Guangzhou University Town Stadium

Round 5 – Netherlands: Amsterdam, May 16-17, 2014, NRCA Stadium