Twelve women’s sevens teams have arrived in Ireland ahead of this weekend’s sevens series qualifier in Dublin. The top two teams from the event will qualify as core teams on next season’s HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series circuit.
Brazil, China, Colombia, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Mexico, the Netherlands, Samoa, South Africa, Wales and hosts Ireland all hope to join the sides who retained their core status by finishing in the top nine in the 2014-15 series standings.
The two qualified sides from this weekend will join champions New Zealand, Canada, Australia, England, USA, France, Russia, Fiji and Spain on the circuit next year.
Inclusion on next season’s series would be especially beneficial to teams like Ireland and Mexico who have still a chance to qualify for next year’s Olympic Games when they take part in the global repechage next June, which will decide the 12th and final qualifier for the women’s event at Rio 2016.
Brazil and Columbia have already confirmed their place at Rio 2016 alongside New Zealand, Australia, Canada and Team GB.
The event will stream live online with fans able to log on to irishrugby.ie where they can watch all the action from the UCD Bowl in Dublin.
The action kicks off with China facing Kenya at 11.00am (GMT +1) with Ireland v South Africa closing proceedings on day one. The all-important play offs take place on Sunday with the first match of the day getting underway at 10.30am.
Fixtures:
| Match No | Fixture | Start time |
| Match 1 | China v Kenya | 11.00 |
| Match 2 | Netherlands v Colombia | 11.22 |
| Match 3 | Brazil v Japan | 11.44 |
| Match 4 | Wales v Samoa | 12.06 |
| Match 5 | South Africa v Hong Kong | 12:28 |
| Match 6 | Ireland v Mexico | 12.50 |
| Match 7 | Netherlands v Kenya | 13.54 |
| Match 8 | China v Colombia | 14.16 |
| Match 9 | Wales v Japan | 14.38 |
| Match 10 | Brazil v Samoa | 15.00 |
| Match 11 | Ireland v Hong Kong | 15.22 |
| Match 12 | South Africa v Mexico | 15.44 |
| Match 13 | Kenya v Colombia | 16.38 |
| Match 14 | China v Netherlands | 17.00 |
| Match 15 | Japan v Samoa | 17.22 |
| Match 16 | Brazil v Wales | 17.44 |
| Match 17 | Hong Kong v Mexico | 18.06 |
| Match 18 | South Africa v Ireland | 18.28 |
| Match 19 | QF Cup – 1 v 8 | 10.52 |
| Match 20 | QF Cup – 4 v 5 | 11.14 |
| Match 21 | QF Cup – 3 v 6 | 11.36 |
| Match 22 | QF Cup – 2 v 7 | 11.58 |
| Match 23 | SF Bowl – 9 v 12 | 12.20 |
| Match 24 | SF Bowl – 10 v 11 | 12.42 |
| Match 25 | SF Plate – Losers M19 v M20 | 13.36 |
| Match 26 | SF Plate – Losers M21 v M22 | 13.58 |
| Match 27 | Cup SF – Winners M19 v M20 | 14.20 |
| Match 28 | Cup SF – Winners M21 v M22 | 14.42 |
| Match 29 | 11th Place – Losers M23 v M24 | 15.04 |
| Match 30 | Bowl Final – W23 v W24 | 15.50 |
| Match 31 | 7th Place – L25 v L26 | 16.20 |
| Match 32 | Plate Final – W25 v W26 | 16.42 |
| Match 33 | 3rd Place – L27 v L28 | 17.12 |
| Match 34 | Cup Final – W27 v W28 | 17.38 |
Tickets for the event in Dublin are still available here. For more information on the qualifier and the HSBC World Rugby Women’s Sevens Series click here
