The squads have been announced for the final round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series 2018 in Paris on 9-10 June.
The 16-team men’s tournament gets under way at the Stade Jean Bouin on Saturday as Fiji and South Africa battle it out in what promises to be a thrilling series title decider.
There has never been a more competitive series than this year's with five different winners in the first five rounds but reigning Olympic Champions Fiji have hit top form recently and enter the tenth and final round in control of their destiny following four successive tournament victories.
Fiji’s seven-point lead over second placed South Africa means the Pacific Island nation will claim the series title if they finish in gold, silver or bronze position in Paris. South Africa have fond memories of the Paris Sevens having claimed the title in two of the past three years - 2017 and 2015 – while Fiji have never taken gold in Paris.
Fiji face a tough group which includes third placed New Zealand, Kenya and Samoa in Pool A. Top points scorer of the series Amenoni Nasilasila will be looking to add to his tally of 299 points for Fiji. Joe Ravouvou is back for the All Blacks Sevens having missed the previous round in London.
In Pool B South Africa are drawn to play Canada, Russia and Scotland who give a debut to Charlie Shiel, son of former Scotland sevens coach Graham and grandson of Dougie Morgan, both former Scottish internationals.
Pool C sees Ireland fresh from their surprise bronze medal triumph in London take on Australia, Wales and Spain. Ireland make the most changes from last weekend in London, bringing in six new players making their world series debut. One to watch for the Irish will be Jordan Conroy fresh from his eight-try performance in London.
In Pool D hosts France are drawn with England, Argentina and USA. England’s all time series top try scorer Dan Norton needs five tries to reach the 300 mark and is just 11 points short of a career total of 1,500 points. USA will be looking to this season’s top try scorer Carlin Isles to lead the attack and add to his tally of 43 tries in the teams final appearance before the Rugby World Cup Sevens which take place in San Francisco on 20-22 July.
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At the bottom end of the standings one team will face dropping out from the core teams for the 2018-19 series to be replaced by Japan following their victory at the qualification event in Hong Kong in April. Russia currently occupy the relegation spot and are currently 17 points behind Wales.
The previous round of the series in London saw the most tries ever recorded in a 16 team tournament, with an incredible 298 scores. The stage is set for a fantastic finale to the series in Paris.
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The men’s tournament begins on Saturday 9 June with Australia taking on Wales in the first game of the day at 09:00 local time (GMT+2).
To follow the action visit www.worldrugby.org/sevens and @WorldRugby7s using #Paris7s