The 1997 Rugby World Cup Sevens was the second edition of the Rugby World Cup Sevens tournament and the first to be held in Hong Kong. It was the last major sporting event to be held in the then British dependency before the transfer of sovereignty to China which took place just three months later. Fiji defeated South Africa 24–21 to take the title for the first time.[1] The final is considered to be one of the best sevens matches of all time.[citation needed]
The twenty four teams were divided into eight pools of three as follows:
All times Hong Kong time (UTC+1)