The tournament, which is being held on the Gold Coast for the first time, has seeded the defending champions, New Zealand, the runners-up, South Africa, Samoa, England, Fiji, hosts Australia, Argentina and Wales. 

In big opening day clashes, four of the seeded sides clash as New Zealand face Fiji and Australia meet South Africa.

The second band of teams were those ranked ninth to 12th last season – Kenya, France, Scotland and United States – and the third band comprised of four regional qualifiers – Japan, Tonga, Papa New Guinea and Niue.

The IRB Chairman, Bernard Lapasset, said of the draw: "This new pool draw format makes for even more excitement on the HSBC Sevens World Series and this first one has thrown up some intriguing pool matches at the Gold Coast Sevens, which heralds the start of the 13th Series.

"The year ahead is another hugely exciting one for Rugby Sevens.

"By the time this Series reaches its climax in London, we will enter the four-year cycle leading to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a period which presents a massive opportunity for the entire global rugby family."

Meanwhile, the Australian Rugby Union managing director and chief executive, John O'Neill, added that the draw meant fans can expect exciting opening matches.

"This draw provides for some great match-ups on the Friday with New Zealand and Fiji and Australia and South Africa set to go head-to-head before we even reach the finals," he said.

"It is hard to find a game that will be easy for any team, in any Pool, which means the inaugural Gold Coast Sevens – Fever Pitch tournament will kick off with a bang.

"In previous years people would sometimes have to wait until the final day to see the likes of Australia and South Africa or New Zealand and Fiji face off against one another, but now fans will get the chance to witness some great games from the very start of the tournament."

The full draw is:

Pool A: New Zealand, Fiji, Kenya, Niue

Pool B: South Africa, Australia, USA, Japan

Pool C: Samoa, Argentina, France, Papua New Guinea

Pool D: England, Wales, Scotland, Tonga

Click here to see the full tournament schedule.

Contact the writer of this article at [email protected]


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