Pools and fixtures for Hamilton Day One

The pools and fixtures for the opening day of the inaugural Hamilton Sevens this weekend have been confirmed. Hamilton has replaced Wellington as the location of the New Zealand leg of the HSBC Sevens Series, with the latter city losing their hosting rights after poor turnouts in recent years.

Argentina were the best of the Americas teams in Sydney, finishing in 3rd place overall after defeating the USA in the Bronze Final. The Pumas will headline Pool C where they are joined by France, Scotland, and hosts New Zealand.

The Eagles will be the top seeds in Pool D. They will be without captain Madison Hughes for the tournament as he has returned to the USA for assessment on a knee injury. Ben Pinkelman will stand in as captain. Joining them in the pool are Kenya, Samoa, and North American rivals Canada.

No team has suffered greater in the casualty department than the Canadians. Mike Fuailefau, Lucas Hammond, and Phil Berna have all been sent home with Mike Mullins and Pat Kay in doubt for the tournament. They finished 13th in Sydney and while the result was disappointing, given their severe injury toll their victory over Scotland with only seven able bodies was commendable.

Sydney champions Australia are in Pool A along with Wales, Spain, and Olympic champions Fiji. Pool B will have defending circuit champions South Africa, England, Russia, and invitational team Papua New Guinea.

The tournament begins on Saturday, February 3. For Americas time zones it begins on Friday evening. Canadian viewers can watch all games on the CBC Sports website, with ESPN broadcasting for the rest of the Americas. A live stream is provided by World Rugby for those in other countries.

DAY ONE FIXTURES

Fri, Feb 2 – 17:00 ET – POOL D – Kenya vs Samoa
Fri, Feb 2 – 17:22 ET – POOL D – USA vs Canada
Fri, Feb 2 – 17:44 ET – POOL B – England vs Russia
Fri, Feb 2 – 18:06 ET – POOL B – South Africa vs Papua New Guinea
Fri, Feb 2 – 18:36 ET – POOL A – Fiji vs Wales
Fri, Feb 2 – 18:58 ET – POOL A – Australia vs Spain
Fri, Feb 2 – 19:20 ET – POOL C – New Zealand vs France
Fri, Feb 2 – 19:42 ET – POOL C – Argentina vs Scotland

Fri, Feb 2 – 20:26 ET – POOL D – Kenya vs Canada
Fri, Feb 2 – 20:48 ET – POOL D – USA vs Samoa
Fri, Feb 2 – 21:10 ET – POOL B – England vs Papuea New Guinea
Fri, Feb 2 – 21:32 ET – POOL B – South Africa vs Russia
Fri, Feb 2 – 22:02 ET – POOL A – Fiji vs Spain
Fri, Feb 2 – 22:24 ET – POOL A – Australia vs Wales
Fri, Feb 2 – 22:46 ET – POOL C – New Zealand vs Scotland
Fri, Feb 2 – 23:08 ET – POOL C – Argentina vs France

Sat, Feb 3 – 00:00 ET – POOL D – Samoa vs Canada
Sat, Feb 3 – 00:22 ET – POOL D – USA vs Kenya
Sat, Feb 3 – 00:44 ET – POOL B – Russia vs Papua New Guinea
Sat, Feb 3 – 01:06 ET – POOL B – South Africa vs England
Sat, Feb 3 – 01:28 ET – POOL A – Wales vs Spain
Sat, Feb 3 – 01:50 ET – POOL A – Australia vs Fiji
Sat, Feb 3 – 02:12 ET – POOL C – France vs Scotland
Sat, Feb 3 – 02:34 ET – POOL C – Argentina vs New Zealand