Road to Rio continues at Dubai Sevens
Round two of Olympic qualification gets underway in Dubai.
Round two of the HSBC Sevens World takes place in Dubai on 5-6 December, and the stakes for the men’s teams will be higher than ever before.
The Rio 2016 Olympic qualifying path adds spice to an already tough competition with the top four teams at the end of the season qualifying for the Olympics.
Fiji sit in top spot after winning the Gold Coast Sevens and head into the weekend as the defending champions, 2012 Dubai Sevens winners Samoa are second following an impressive showing in Australia, while England and South Africa complete the top four.
Defending Series champions New Zealand and the remaining 10 core teams will all be looking to close the gap on the leaders, while eyes will also be on Brazil who are appearing as the non-core side in Dubai having already been guaranteed a spot in Rio as hosts.
“There is no secret that Dubai is a very competetive tournamernt,” said England captain Tom Mitchell. “We always love coming here.
“For us it is a massive honour to be nominated as the qualification team for Team GB but we know we need to improve on last year, and the tournament before, to keep improving. There is enough to incentivise us here in Dubai before we look at the Olympics.”
Fiji head into the tournament as defending champions and current series leaders, which adds to the pressure for their captain Osea Kolinisau.
“There is more pressure after winning in Australia, and as the defending champions, but also as all teams are gunning for a spot in Rio,” added Kolinisau. “We are just looking to build on our performances and keep in that top four.
“We are happy with the team we have despite losing three players from the Gold Coast. The work we have put in means that all the boys deserve their place in the team and we’re excited to run out at the weekend.”
All matches from the Dubai Sevens will be streamed on worldrugby.org with geo-blocking applying in some regions and you can follow @worldrugby7s for all the latest.
Courtesy of World Rugby
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