Pools and schedules named for Wellington and LA
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<BR>21 DECEMBER 2005
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<BR>The pools and schedules have been announced for the third and fourth events in this year's IRB Sevens series, the AXA New Zealand International Sevens and the USA Sevens.
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<BR>Wellington hosts New Zealand swept all before them in the first two events last year to lay the foundations for a sixth IRB Sevens title, but this season Fiji go into the Wellington event, on 3-4 February, at the top of the standings table and in fine form, having won one final and lost the other in the first two events of the season. England, meanwhile, top the pools on the strength of the results of the last six tournaments and face Australia, Scotland and Papua New Guinea in Pool A.
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<BR>Fiji head pool B, where they will face France, Canada and Niue, while hosts New Zealand are seeded third and face a tough test in Samoa, Kenya and the Cook Islands in Pool C. Coach Gordon Tietjens faces one of his greatest challenges as he looks to rebuild the side after early season disappointment, and defend the overall IRB Sevens crown.
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<BR>Pool D is topped by fourth seeds South Africa, who will face Argentina, Tonga and USA.
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<BR><!-- BBCode Start --><A HREF="
http://www.irbsevens.com/Schedule/New+Zealand/Matches/" TARGET="_blank">CLICK HERE FOR THE WELLINGTON SCHEDULE >> </A><!-- BBCode End -->
<BR><!-- BBCode Start --><A HREF="
http://www.irbsevens.com/Schedule/New+Zealand/Pools/" TARGET="_blank">CLICK HERE FOR THE WELLINGTON POOLS >> </A><!-- BBCode End -->
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<BR>USA Sevens, Los Angeles
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<BR>From Wellington, the teams travel to the Californian coast for the USA Sevens on 11-12 February.
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<BR>The seedings do not change for the USA showpiece at the state-of-the-art Home Depot Center in Los Angeles, but the 16 sides do; Uruguay, Mexico and a combined West Indies side replace Pacific islanders Niue, the Cook Islands and Papua New Guinea.
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<BR>In Los Angeles England again top Pool A and face France, Kenya and hosts USA, while Pool B pits Scotland and Uruguay against fancied Fiji and Argentina, who will battle out a repeat of the George final, won by Waisale Serevi's Fiji.
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<BR>Pool C sees newcomers West Indies square up to a trio of Oceania heavyweights; New Zealand and Australia will resume their rivalry, and Tonga are never to be counted out in the Sevens game, and Pool D is again topped by South Africa, who face Samoa - so impressive in the first two events of the season - as well as Canada and last year's LA darlings Mexico.
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<BR>IRB Tournaments Manager Beth Coalter commented: "The IRB Sevens season got off to a fantastic start in Dubai and George, with so many teams truly competitive.
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<BR>"Fiji look back near their best and England's recent consistency means they're top seeds for these two events. But it's going to be fascinating to see how New Zealand respond in front of their home crowd, and then in Los Angeles where they defend their title. I think you'd have to be very brave to count them out, but the fact that so may teams are in contention is fantastic for the series and fantastic for Sevens."
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<BR><!-- BBCode Start --><A HREF="
http://www.irbsevens.com/Schedule/USA/Matches/" TARGET="_blank">CLICK HERE FOR THE LOS ANGELES SCHEDULE >> </A><!-- BBCode End -->
<BR><!-- BBCode Start --><A HREF="
http://www.irbsevens.com/Schedule/USA/Pools/" TARGET="_blank">CLICK HERE FOR THE LOS ANGELES POOLS >> </A><!-- BBCode End -->
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<BR><!-- BBCode Start --><B>IRB Sevens 2005/06 Top Point-scorers:</B><!-- BBCode End -->
<BR>James Hook (WAL) 99
<BR>Ben Gollings (ENG) 97
<BR>Stefan Basson (RSA) 96
<BR>William Ryder (FJI) 80
<BR>Jone Daunivucu (FJI) 76
<BR>Juan Ignacio Gauthier (ARG) 71
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<BR><!-- BBCode Start --><B>IRB Sevens 2005/06 Top Try-scorers:</B><!-- BBCode End -->
<BR>Filipe Grenho (POR) 11
<BR>Sireli Naqelevuki (FJI) 11
<BR>Tal Selley (WAL) 11
<BR>Stefan Basson (RSA) 10
<BR>Jacques Boussuge (FRA) 10
<BR>Martin Bustos Moyano (ARG) 10
<BR>Jone Daunivucu (FJI) 10
<BR>Zar Lawrence (NZL) 10
<BR>Dave Moonlight (CAN) 10
<BR>William Ryder (FJI) 10
<BR>Tom Varndell (ENG) 10
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<BR>Ma in base a cosa vengono selezionate le partecipanti?
<BR>E soprattutto x' l'Italia non c'è mai?
