SA in pool of death

Tokyo winners South Africa have been rewarded with a proverbial 'pool of the death' in the next round of the IRB Sevens World Series.

The IRB has confirmed the pool draw for round eight of the IRB World Sevens Series, the Glasgow leg at Scotstoun Stadium on May 4 and 5.

The Glasgow tournament will be crucial in deciding which of the current teams will need to re-qualify as core teams next season.

In Glasgow South Africa head Pool A and face arguably the toughest of the groups - with matches on Day One against Samoa, Kenya and Canada.

Tournament hosts Scotland were drawn in Pool B, which is headed by New Zealand, England and Portugal.

The bronze winners in Tokyo, Australia, start in Pool C with matches against Fiji, Argentina and Spain.

France were the first team drawn into Pool D and they face the United States, Wales and the Rugby World Cup Sevens hosts, Russia.

At the final round of the Series, the London Sevens the core teams ranked 13th, 14th and 15th after Glasgow, will play off for three available core team places next season with Asian champions Hong Kong, Russia, Zimbabwe, Tonga and Georgia - a scenario every core team wishes to avoid.

Currently Scotland and United States are tied in joint-12th place, ahead of Portugal and Spain.

After seven of the nine rounds in the 2012/13 Series, defending champions New Zealand lead with 132 points from South Africa in second place on 100.

Fiji are third (98), Samoa fourth (94) and Kenya and France tied in fifth (77).

Glasgow pools:

Pool A: South Africa, Samoa, Kenya, Canada

Pool B: New Zealand, Scotland, England, Portugal

Pool C: Australia, Fiji, Argentina, Spain

Pool D: France, United States, Wales, Russia