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Sevens secure World Cup spot

Sevens secure World Cup spot

Wales secured their spot in the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009 in Dubai after going through the opening day of the European qualifiers in Hanover on Saturday with an unbeaten record.

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Gareth Baber’s side progressed to Sunday’s Cup final but were beaten into second place by top seeds Portugal 26-12.

Both the Portugese and the Georgians qualified on Saturday, their four wins from four pool matches on day one at the AWD Arena meant that they finished in the top two of their pools and reached the Cup semi-finals.


Ireland and Italy finished the tournament in fourth and fifth place respectively, meaning they too will participate in next year’s World Cup.


Wales beat Poland 38-0, Ireland 26-14, Ukraine 21-17 and Italy 33-12 on Saturday to qualify with a day to spare, however Baber’s team, core members of the IRB Sevens World Series, didn’t have it all their own way.


Wales trailed at half-time against Ireland in their second match and then needed Gareth Chapman’s try to deny Ukraine a famous victory after they had fought back from 14-0 to lead 17-14 with tries from Jaba Malaguradze, Ruslan Tserkovniy and Giorgi Todradze.


Wales were convincing 33-12 winners over Belgium and fought their way to a 19-14 victory over Georgia on Day two en route to the cup final.


For more information on the Hanover Sevens go to http://www.hannover-sevens.de/

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