Preview: Commonwealth Games 7s
New Zealand has dominated Commonwealth Games Sevens, claiming all four Gold medals to date. The question is simple: 'Can anybody end their reign?'
It is expected that their biggest challenge – in Glasgow on Saturday and Sunday – will come from a small group of teams that form the core of the IRB Sevens World Series.
The reigning champions, New Zealand, have been drawn in Pool A alongside Canada, Nigeria and tournament hosts, Scotland.
Delhi silver medallist Australia and bronze medallist South Africa are top seeds in pools D and B respectively, while other World Series regulars in Samoa, England, Kenya, Wales and Canada will also feature.
New Zealand captain DJ Forbes believes his team's "brutal" training regime under legendary coach Gordon Tietjens will propel the Kiwis to a fifth straight Commonwealth Games gold medal in Glasgow.
The Kiwis have not lost a single match since the sport was introduced at the Games for the first time in Malaysia in 1998.
At the helm for all four gold medal successes – in Kuala Lumpur, Manchester, Melbourne and Delhi – and in charge this weekend Tietjens is a coach with a formidable reputation for pushing his players to the limit.
"His methods are old school – 'brutal' is one of the words I'm sure a lot of people will agree with," Forbes, a gold medal winner at the 2010 Games, told BBC Sport.
Unsurprisingly Tietjens, 58, is demanding another gold as his side look to extend their long, unbeaten Commonwealth Games run.
"It's fair comment that I'm quite hard, but I also believe I'm quite fair," he said.
"The condition levels required for Sevens are different to a 15-per-side game. In a 15-per-side game it's all about defence and there's not a lot of space.
"The guys who play Sevens are all athletes. They're the fittest rugby players in New Zealand. They train so hard and you've got to have that type of commitment if you want to be successful."
The sixteen teams will take part in the Glasgow Commonwealth Games are Australia, Canada, Cook Islands, England, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Scotland, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda and Wales.
Pools
Pool A: New Zealand, Canada, Scotland, Nigeria
Pool B: South Africa, Kenya, Cook Islands, Trinidad and Tobago
Pool C: Samoa, Wales, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia
Pool D: England, Australia, Sri Lanka, Uganda
Day One schedule – Saturday, July 26:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT plus on hour)
Pool A
New Zealand v Canada – 09.30
Canada v Barbados – 11.30
New Zealand v Scotland – 12.56
Scotland v Barbados – 17.02
New Zealand v Barbados -m19.20
Canada v Scotland – 20.04
Pool B
Kenya v Cook Islands – 10.16
South Africa v Trinidad&Tobago – 11.22
Cook Islands v Trinidad&Tobago – 13.40
South Africa v Cook Islands – 17.30
Kenya v Trinidad&Tobago – 18.52
South Africa v Kenya – 21.10
Pool C
Samoa v Papua N Guinea – 10.38
Wales v Malaysia – 11.00
Papua N Guinea v Malaysia – 13.18
Wales v Papua N Guinea – 17.46
Samoa v Malaysia – 18.08
Samoa v Wales – 20.26
Pool D
Australia v Sri Lanka – 09.54
Australia v Uganda – 12.12
England v Sri Lanka – 12.34
England v Uganda – 17.24
Sri Lanka v Uganda – 19.42
England v Australia – 20.48
