Reaction to the draw in Dubai for the men's competition at Rugby World Cup Sevens 2009.
Waisale Serevi, Fiji coach (Defending champions)
"There are no easy pools and that is a measure of how far Sevens has progressed since the last World Cup, with every team capable of beating each other on any given day.
"We will not be underestimating France or Georgia as they have proven that they can challenge, while USA are also going to be extremely tough.
"We have to be fully prepared and focused for a tournament and make few mistakes as with the games only lasting seven minutes each way, mistakes are punished.
"We now look forward to the tournament and defending our title and going through the final preparations in Wellington and San Diego.
"Dubai will be a special venue to play. The Sevens venue created a special atmosphere in November and I am sure that it will again for the Rugby World Cup Sevens in March.
"Having a women's tournament for the first time will add to the interest and atmosphere - it is a very good development for the game.
Bernard Lapasset, Chairman Rugby World Cup Ltd
"Now the draw is complete, we can turn our attention to kick-off on 5 March. Dubai has a rich history of delivering exceptional Sevens tournaments and travelling fans can look forward to a tournament that will deliver world class rugby on the pitch and incredible entertainment for all the family off the pitch. It is an event not to be missed.
"While both draws look extremely competitive, I am especially looking forward to watching the inaugural women's competition. The women's game is experiencing unprecedented global growth at the moment and standards are raising year on year. It is going to be extremely difficult to call who will be crowned the first Women's Rugby World Cup champions."
Stephen Gemmell, Scotland men's coach
“We’ve got two of our three pool teams, South Africa and Japan, over the next two tournaments in the World Series and having the draw in advance of these tournaments will certainly help in our preparations for the World Cup.
“There’s no easy Pool at the World Cup. As for our draw, we’ve got South Africa once again who are flying this year. And despite Canada not being a core team anymore, they have been before and have always performed well. Japan are another exciting team that are well suited to playing rugby sevens.
“In the end, it’s a World Cup and we’re all looking forward to performing on this stage with confidence in our ability based on our results over the last two seasons where we have beaten some of the best teams in the world.”
Thierry Janeczek, French men's coach
"As we weren't in the top six seeds we were always going to come up against one of the top teams. Fiji are the reference point for Sevens and for us in the tournament but we can't take our eye off USA or Georgia.
"In Sevens there are no small teams and I know how much work the Americans have done in the last two years to reach the stage they're at. It's no coincidence that they've made Cup quarter finals on the World Series in the last couple of years.
"We know these teams' strengths and we're going to make sure we strengthen our game accordingly. We're also going to be strengthened by four key players at the next tournament.
Rodney McIntosh, Hong Kong coach
"We are quite pleased with the Draw. Out of all of the pools or the Top tier teams, I am quite happy at drawing England. I am realistic about how we will fare against England, but I think we can hold our own and have good matches against Kenya and Tunisia.”
“I will be talking to the guys at training and my message is just going to be that we have nothing to lose. It is a once in a lifetime opportunity and our key message is going to be just ‘have a go’ and not to worry about reputations but just to go out and enjoy the experience. The guys are already quite excited and we have been focusing on the Rugby World Cup Sevens since the summer so it is great that it is nearly upon us.”
