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Rugby sevens qualification match for the Championship of Europe to be held in Odesa in late May
14:28 / 11.05.2010

ODESA, MAY, 11th, 2010, CONTEXT-PRICHERNOMORIE – Rugby sevens qualification match for the Championship of Europe is to be held in Odesa through May 29-30th, Context-Prichernomorie correspondent reports.

The agency was informed about it today 11 May at the press-service of the Professional Rugby League of Ukraine.

According to the press-service, “In Ukrainian rugby history Odesa is to host such an important event as IRA-AER European Sevens Championship for the second time. 30 European teams will be participating in the championship”.

The qualification will consist of 6 qualifying games. Each team is to participate in two of them. In the end, 12 teams winning the largest amount of points will get to the finals of the Championship. This year it is to be held in Moscow, through July 10-11.

The following teams will arrive in Odesa for the qualification: Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, Moldova, Georgia, Romania, Belgium, Latvia, Malta, and Switzerland.

“With great pleasure I would like to stress European Rugby Federation highly appreciated the level of preparation for the Rugby Sevens Qualification Tournaments held in Odesa in June 2009. In this respect a remarkable for Ukrainian rugby decision was made – to give Odesa the right to host Rugby Sevens Qualifications annually. Ukrainian Team will have to fight face to face with the strongest European teams, so we really count on the support of the home tribunes”, Maksim Surkov, Vice-president of Ukrainian Rugby Federation stated.

INFORMATION: Rugby sevens, also known as seven-a-side and VIIs, is a variant of rugby union in which teams are made up of seven players, instead of the usual 15, with shorter matches. The game originated in Melrose, Scotland, where the Melrose Sevens tournament is still played annually. The game is popular at all levels, with amateur and club tournaments generally held in the summer months. Sevens is one of the most well distributed forms of rugby, and is popular in parts of Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas, and especially in the South Pacific