The 2012 Hong Kong Sevens was the 37th edition of the
Hong Kong Sevens
The Hong Kong Sevens () is an rugby sevens tournament held annually in Hong Kong on a weekend in late March or early April. Considered the premier tournament on the World Rugby Sevens Series competition, the Hong Kong Sevens is currently the s ...
tournament and the sixth tournament of the
2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series
The 2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series, known for sponsorship reasons as the HSBC Sevens World Series, was the 13th annual series of the IRB Sevens World Series tournaments for full national sides run by the International Rugby Board since 1999– ...
. The host stadium was the
Hong Kong Stadium
Hong Kong Stadium is the main sports venue of Hong Kong. Redeveloped from the old Government Stadium, it reopened as Hong Kong Stadium in March 1994. It has a maximum seating capacity of 40,000, including 18,260 at the main level, 3,173 at exec ...
.
Fiji
Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consis ...
won the title by defeating
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
35–28 in the final.
Format
The teams were divided into pools of four teams, who played a round-robin within the pool. Points were awarded in each pool on a different scale from that used in most rugby tournaments: 3 for a win, 2 for a draw, 1 for a loss.
However, new for 2012 was what was described by organisers as two separate 12-team competitions, called Competition 1 and Competition 2. Competition 1 contained the 12 core teams of the IRB Sevens circuit, who play in every event of the IRB Sevens circuit, in pools A, B and C.
Competition 2 contained 12 teams who had qualified through their performance in regional tournaments, in pools D, E and F. Four of these teams were from Asia; three from Europe; two from North America & Caribbean; one from Oceania; one from South America; and one from Africa. This competition also doubled as a qualifying tournament for the 2012–13 IRB Sevens circuit, where the two Qualifier (Shield) finalists and the winner of the 3rd/4th place playoff earned automatic participation in all events of the 2012–13 season. This resulted from the IRB's decision to increase the number of core teams to 15, effective in 2012–13.
Eight teams from Pools A, B and C, being the winners and runner-up from each pool, plus the best two 3rd placers, qualified for the Cup Quarter Finals. The losers of these Quarter Finals competed in the Plate Semifinals. The remaining four teams competed in the Bowl Semifinals.
Similarly, eight teams from Pools D, E and F qualified for the Qualifier (Shield) playoffs. The remaining four teams played in ranking matches.
Merchandising
For this tournament, sportswear brand
Kukri Sports
Kukri Sports Ltd (pron: "kuk-ree") is an international sportswear brand specialising in manufacturing bespoke sportswear for over 100 sports, including rugby league, rugby union, netball, hockey, cricket and football.
The name 'Kukri' is taken f ...
teamed up with Hong Kong lifestyle retail store
G.O.D.
Groove Over Dose, known by the acronym g.o.d (), is a South Korean boy band formed by SidusHQ. Debuting in 1999, the group became one of the most popular boy bands of the early 2000s in South Korea. The members had gone on to solo careers in th ...
to produce merchandising. The products, carried the specially designed "Kukri x G.O.D." logo, which features elements of the original Hong Kong flag, and ranges from polos, traditional Chinese jackets, boxers,
Cheongsam
''Cheongsam'' (, ), also known as the ''qipao'' () and sometimes referred to as the mandarin gown, is a Chinese dress worn by women which takes inspiration from the , the ethnic clothing of the Manchu people. The cheongsam is most often s ...
-inspired ladies polo, messenger and tote bags. A percentage of sales went to the Foodlink Foundation, supported by both companies.
Teams
24 teams participated:
;Competition 1
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;Competition 2
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Pool stage
The draw was made on February 16.
Pool A
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Pool B
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Pool C
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Pool D
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Pool E
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Pool F
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Knockout stage
Cup
Plate
Bowl
Qualifier (Shield)
Ranking Matches
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Hong Kong
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...
rugby union
Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In it ...
2011–12 IRB Sevens World Series
2012 in Asian rugby union
March 2012 sports events in Asia