HSBC LA Sevens 2023 Pools

Following the New Zealand women and men claiming gold in this past weekend’s Sydney 7s on the HSBC World Sevens Rugby Series, the tour heads to the LA Sevens 2023 for the men in a few week’s time, with the event taking place from 25-26 February 2023 and the pools now confirmed.

Updated 24 Feb 2023

Feature Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby – Captain’s photo call prior to the HSBC Los Angeles Sevens at the Dignity Health Sports Park on 23 February 2023 in Los Angeles, United States. 

Sydney 7s saw a number of upsets across the weekend but both finals were big blowout wins for NZ Sevens, with neither side conceding a point in their respective gold-winning matches. The victories also mean the women and men both extended their leads at the top of the standings in 2023.

The All Blacks Sevens thrashed South Africa 38-0 in the men’s final, while the Black Ferns Sevens overpowered France 35-0 in Sydney. The 2023 Series is proving to be the most competitive in history with five different winners – Argentina, Australia, Samoa, South Africa and now New Zealand – in the five men’s tournaments played so far.

Photo credit: Mike Lee – KLC fotos for World Rugby – All 16 captains at the captain’s photo call prior to the HSBC Los Angeles Sevens at the Dignity Health Sports Park on 23 February 2023 in Los Angeles, United States.

The Men’s Series has seen nine different teams reach the Cup Semi-Final stage, with all nine nations medaling across the first five tournaments. There have been five different gold medal winners (Australia, Samoa, South Africa, Argentina and New Zealand), four different silver medalists (Fiji, South Africa, Ireland and New Zealand twice) and four bronze medalists (France, New Zealand, Fiji and USA twice).

HSBC World Sevens Series 2023 Schedule

While the 2023 Series continues for the men in Los Angeles on 25-26 February, the women will wait another week and play the combined event in Vancouver from 3-5 March 2023, before the Series returns to Asia for the back-to-back events in Hong Kong and Singapore.

We have been informed that the Hong Kong men and women will be the invitational teams at home from 31 March to 2 April 2023, and both are preparing for the Challenger Sevens Series in Stellenbosh in April.

LA Sevens 2023 Pools – HSBC World Sevens Rugby Men

Pool A

• NZ
• Samoa
• USA
• Chile

Chile is the invitational team for the HSBC Los Angeles Sevens 2023 and has a very tough pool A, joining log-leaders New Zealand, home side USA, and fiercely competitive Samoa. The South American team will use the weekend to prepare for the two-leg Challenger Series in April 2023.

USA men’s captain Kevon Williams said: “The season is at stake this weekend. We’re three points behind third place with the top four qualifying for Paris so this weekend is a really big weekend for us as far as staying in contention for qualifying for the Olympics…… Whether it’s been in Las Vegas or Los Angeles we’ve always played well at home. The USA has three cup wins and two of them are on home soil so we play big when it comes here.”

Pool B

• South Africa
• Ireland
• Uruguay
• Canada

South Africa made up for some lost ground after a poor show in Hamilton but will want to quickly forget the final hammering by NZ in Sydney. Ireland should be looking to reach the Cup QF from this pool which also includes sides fighting in the relegation playoff zone, Uruguay and Canada.

Canada captain Phil Berna said: “One good tournament is all you need to get some momentum going and we’ve been telling ourselves not to stress too much about the end of the season so we’ll take it one game and one tournament at a time. We have a job to do here this weekend and we know the better we do this weekend the better position we put ourselves in Vancouver at our home tournament so our focus is on LA.”

Pool C

• Fiji
• Australia
• Kenya
• Japan

Japan, who languish in the relegation spot in the Men’s Series face another daunting weekend in LA, as they will play Fiji and Australia, as well as Kenya.

In the lead-up to the weekend the Japan 7s and NZ 7s Men had some “friendly matches” to prepare for the tournament.

Pool D

• France
• GB
• Argentina
• Spain

France upset the hosts in Sydney and will look to reach another Cup quarterfinal in LA, with Argentina and GB their biggest rivals in Pool D, although Spain remains competitive.

The full set of fixtures and results can be followed here.

HSBC’s World of Opportunity Programme

As part of the captains’ photo in LA, the Men’s Sevens team captains were interviewed by participants from HSBC’s World of Opportunity Programme. This is a global initiative from HSBC “that gives young people with an interest in working in sport the opportunity to get invaluable insight into sporting careers that lie beyond the field.”

The young adults taking part in the programme are all from the LA area and were sourced in partnership with the Todd Clever Foundation.

The participants also took part in a series of sessions hosted by Clever, HSBC ambassador and USA Rugby Sevens international Abby Gustaitis and World Rugby. As part of the partnership with the Todd Clever Foundation, there will also be a Donation Wall at the Dignity Health Sports Park, where kit, funds and equipment will be donated towards supporting local rugby clubs and organizations.

Los Angeles Invitational 2023 Rugby

The Sevens event in LA also has plenty of social and competitive rugby for non-national teams. The Los Angeles Invitational (LAI) is an amateur rugby tournament with some categories playing 1 day and some will 2-day competitions from Friday, February 24th through Sunday, February 26th alongside the HSBC LA Sevens.

Among the competing teams are the Magandaquins 7s who will make their debut at the event. The sevens team is a Filipina heritage side that “is the product of Philippines Women’s 7s National Team players who reside in North America”. The team is intended to be a pathway program to still play for the national Philippines teams. They will play in the Women’s Open 7s which has in total, 8 sides playing.

Teams compete on the outer fields at Dignity Health Sports Park and local athletic parks in the area.

Friday, February 24 and Saturday, February 25 (2-day competitions)

• Divisions: Mens Elite, Womens Elite, Mens Premier
• Divisions: Mens College, Womens College, Boys High School Open, Girls High School Open

Saturday, February 25 only (1-day competition)

• Divisions: Mens Open, Womens Open

Sunday, February 26 only (1-day competition)

• Divisions: Youth Rugby Jamboree – Under 8 Flag, Under 10, Under 12

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