Boots and all | Hong Kong cop short end of the stick as World Rugby joins ICC in losing sight of what World Cups are all about
A new scheduling format that features a ‘pre-round of 16’ means Paul John’s side may be bundled out after just one match
The International Cricket Council has drawn the ire of all and sundry after reducing its 50-over World Cup from 14 teams to 10, but it may finally have found an ally in World Rugby.
The David v Goliath battles – and the upsets that the sporting public love so much – have effectively been stamped out of cricket and World Rugby took a step in the same direction on Wednesday when announcing the fixture for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in July.
A tournament that has traditionally been divided into pools – ensuring low seeds like Hong Kong get the chance to take on the best in the game – will now see a “pre-round of 16”, giving the top eight seeds in the 24-team competition the first round off.
The “pre-round of 16” winners then take on the world’s best teams in the round of 16, while the losers are cast aside, left to fight it out among themselves in the bowl competition.
If Hong Kong lose their opening match to Russia – more than feasible considering their opponents have spent the season on the HSBC World Sevens Series – they will return from San Francisco having played largely against teams not even in the top tier.