'Group of Death' is an overused sporting term, but the SAR women's sevens side had every right to use it after an unlucky draw for the Cable & Wireless Hong Kong Women's Rugby Sevens competition yesterday.
After being pulled out of the hat with defending champions New Zealand and the talented Canada in pool A, Hong Kong will know that the draw could have been much kinder.
'We didn't have much luck, but it's going to be a big challenge and we'll be looking forward to it,' chairwoman for the women's sevens organising committee Ruth Mitchell said.
'We could have got a handier draw, that's for sure, but we have to take what we've got. We've a young team who will benefit greatly from the experience.'
New Zealand, having won all the nine previous women's sevens tournaments in Hong Kong will go in as hot favourites once again, and when one considers that pool D is an all-Asian group made up of China, Singapore and Japan, Hong Kong do seem to have drawn the short straw.
It will be the 10th anniversary of the competition which will take place on Thursday, March 28, and Friday, March 29, at So Kon Po, with the final to be played on Friday evening at Hong Kong Stadium as part of the Cathay Pacific/Credit Suisse Hong Kong Sevens.
