England have been drawn in Group B along with Germany, Sweden and surprise qualifier Andorra. The only other home nation - Wales (Scotland and Ireland are not taking part) - are in Group D with Finland, Italy and Moldova. Elsewhere Group A features France, Russia, the Czech Republic, and Portugal; while Group C has Spain, Isreal, the Netherlands and Romania.
The top two in each group go through to quarter-finals. Favourites will obviously be England, Wales and France (and a repeat of the recent XVs England v Wales championship final is very possible) - but Sevens is far more open than XVs. Most of these countries play almost nothing else and "surprises" (like Portugal beating Australia in the recent men's IRB London Sevens) are very possible. But overall I can't see England not winning it - the interesting thing will be who comes 2nd to 6th. The quarter-final draw will have a big influence, but overall my "tips" for the six qualifiers would be (in order!):
- England
- Wales
- France
- Spain
- Italy
- Russia
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