The preliminary round for Qantas Australians Men’s Sevens team will include a match-up against another top contender in Fiji in the Gold Coast Sevens tournament scheduled in Oct. 11 and 12, 2014. Both squads will be battling against group stage opponents Scotland and Portugal in Pool C of the rugby tournament.

The Geraint John-coached Aussie squad opens the tournament against Portugal on Oct 11 (12:24 pm), Scotland (3:45 pm) and Fiji (7:01 pm).

The tournament will serve as a qualifier for same event at the 2016 Olympics with the top four squads eligible for the games in Rio, Brazil.

“My first thoughts are that this is a very tough group. When they are on form, Fiji can win any tournament. Scotland have been big improvers of late and have some form behind them. They did very well in the IRB event in Glasgow last season and again at the Commonwealth Games in July. Portugal has one or two match winners in their team which makes them a danger,” Cameron Clark admitted via the tournament’s official website.

“The reality in Sevens is that anyone can beat any other side on any given day.”

Groups – Gold Coast Sevens

Pool A: New Zealand, Samoa, France, Japan

Pool B: South Africa, Kenya, Wales, American Samoa

Pool C: Fiji, Australia, Scotland, Portugal

Pool D: England, Canada, Argentina, USA

Fiji is the most dangerous opponent for the Aussies finishing third in the Sevens World Series in the 2013 edition of the tournament while Scotland has beaten Australia in the latest fixture between the two nations.

Only the top two teams will advance to the next round in the tournament and move on to the quarterfinals, which is scheduled Oct. 12.

Qantas Men’s Sevens Pool

Backs - Paul Asquith, Cameron Clark, Allan Fa’alava’au, Con Foley, Pama Fou, Alex Gibbon, Lewis Holland, Greg Jeloudev, Tom Lucas, Afa Pakalani, James Stannard and Shannon Walker

Forwards - Ed Jenkins (captain), Thomas Cusack, Nick Malouf, Sam Myers, Jesse Parahi, Peter Schuster and Lausii Taliauli

The Sevens format calls for a seven-a-side match with teams featuring three forwards and four backs. Teams play two 7-minute halves with a 1-minute halftime break. In the championship round, game time is increased to 10-minutes a half with 2 minutes halftime break.

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