Nepali teams aim to top group in Asia Rugby 7s today

By A Staff Reporter,Kathmandu, Oct. 4: The Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy kicks off on Friday (October 4) in Dasharath Stadium between 14 men’s teams and seven women’s teams. The group members and fixtures were revealed on Thursday.

The 14 men’s teams have been divided into four groups -- two of three and two of four teams -- and the women’s team is divided into two of four each. However, after the Iranian women’s team could not travel due to tensions in the middle-East, one pool now has three teams.

“We got the confirmation that the Iranian team could not arrive on Thursday afternoon. Their pool matches will be excluded,” said Dipak Devkota, President of the Nepal Rugby Association (NRA).

Nepal’s opponents

The Nepali men’s team has been drawn into Group B, a group with three members. The men’s team will compete against Uzbekistan and Bahrain. 

With the tournament opener between Pakistan and Jordan from Group A at 8:30 am Nepali time on Friday, Nepal and Uzbekistan are playing in the second match scheduled at 8:53 am. The 7s matches are played across 14 minutes.

The second group match of Nepal against Bahrain is scheduled for 1:17 pm. 

On the other hand, the Nepali women’s team has been drawn into the group with the Philippines, Guam and Uzbekistan. While Nepal and the Philippines will play at 11:45 am, the matches against Guam and Uzbekistan are 3:35 pm and 7:02 pm respectively.

Talking to the journalists on Thursday, NRA’s Devkota said that the men’s and women’s teams were looking forward to topping their respective pools (groups).

“The winners of the pool will advance to the Trophy fixtures on Saturday. We have trained our players for more than four months for the purpose,” said Devkota.

The top two teams from the men’s and women’s groups will progress to the fixtures for the Cup and the lower-positioned teams will play in the Bowl category.