England and Scotland have been drawn together in the same Pool for the Cathay Pacific / HSBC Hong Kong Sevens on 22-24 March.
The world famous event will be a major rugby pre-cursor to the opening game of the British & Irish Lions 125th anniversary tour, when they play the Barbarians at the Hong Kong Stadium in their opening game on Saturday, 1 June.
It will be the third successive tournament in which the auld enemies have faced each other and, with the score standing at one win each, the Hong Kong clash will be decisive. England beat the Scots en route to the Wellington Sevens title, only for Colin Gregor's men to gain revenge in Las Vegas last time out.
Portugal and Samoa are the other two teams in Pool C, while Wales, still the reigning Rugby World Cup Sevens champions, will join Las Vegas winners South Africa, Argentina and Australia in a deadly Pool.
The Hong Kong RFU and the IRB unveiled an exciting format for this year’s tournament with the event being awarded the hosting of a 12-team HSBC Sevens World Series Pre-Qualifier competition.
This four Pool event will run alongside the traditional 16-team Hong Kong format, featuring the 15 core teams participating in the current World Series and the HSBC Asian Sevens Series 2012 champions, Hong Kong.
World Series leaders New Zealand have been drawn with the USA, France and Kenya, while hosts Hong Kong will face Spain, Fiji and Canada in Pool D.
Hong Kong Sevens Draw
Pool A: South Africa, Wales, Argentina, Australia.
Pool B: New Zealand, USA, France, Kenya.
Pool C: Samoa, Scotland, Portugal, England.
Pool D: Canada, Fiji, Spain, Hong Kong
Core Team Pre-Qualifier
Pool E: Tonga, S-America 1, Tunisia, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
Pool F: Japan, Georgia, S-America 2, Jamaica
Pool G: Russia, Zimbabwe, Cook Islands, Mexico
