Russia's rugby sevens failed to qualify

Russia’s rugby sevens team is performing worse than coach Henry Paul planned after failing to qualify for the World Series, he said Thursday. Russia will host the Rugby World Cup Sevens next year, but will only feature as an occasional guest on the World Series as it prepares for the tournament. A quarterfinal defeat to Canada at the Hong Kong Sevens qualification tournament last month ended hope of a World Series berth, before Russia lost five of six games at the Tokyo tournament last weekend. "I drew up the plans of where we were going and what we were aiming for and things haven't gone to plan," Paul told the IRB Sevens website. Some progress had been made, however, he said. “These have been the first two tournaments with the team and I think I'm a little further down the track in terms of where we need to go.” Paul played rugby league for New Zealand and rugby union 15s and Sevens for England, before he became Russia coach Kingsley Jones’ assistant in 2010. After Russia’s first World Cup appearance in the 15s form of the sport in 2011, Paul has taken the lead role in coaching the Sevens team.