South Africa seeded second for opener
The South African Sevens team have been seeded second for the Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens, the first event of the 2008/09 season to be played on 28-29 November 2008, the International Rugby Board announced on Tuesday.
Coach Paul Treu's squad - which finished second to New Zealand in the 2007/08 IRB Sevens World Series - face tough pool opposition from Kenya, Scotland and host nation Arabian Gulf.
The Dubai tournament kick-starts seven months of intense international Sevens action, including the eight events on the grand-prix style Series and the Rugby World Cup Sevens, scheduled to be held in Dubai on 5-7 March 2009.
The Emirates Airline Dubai Sevens will be the first event to be played at 'The Sevens', a new purpose-built stadium which will be the headquarters for rugby in the region. The new state-of-the-art facility will also host the Sevens World Cup for both men and women three months later.
Top seeds New Zealand proved unbeatable for much of last season, winning in Dubai and then capturing four further Cup titles on the bounce in George, Wellington (New Zealand), San Diego and Hong Kong before finishing the season strongly to defend their Edinburgh crown and rubber-stamp a remarkable season, their eighth Series triumph in nine years.
Their reward is a tough start to the 10th anniversary Sevens season and a clash in Pool A with Australia, Wales and an African qualifier for next year's Rugby World Cup Sevens, to be decided on 31 October - 1 November.
The islanders of Samoa and Fiji head the two other pools and will face stiff competition from Argentina and England respectively to emerge top of their groups.
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