The fourth leg of the World Rugby 7s 2019/2020 season heads to Sydney’s Bankwest Stadium this weekend. The action starts on Saturday morning and the final will be played on Sunday night. New Zealand is dominating the series thus far with a 15 point lead atop the standings and will be the team everyone wants to beat after winning back to back legs. We have a full betting preview for the 2020 Sydney Rugby 7s below.
Rugby 7s Sydney Betting Tips
Pool A
New Zealand have flown out of the blocks this season with back to back series victories in Cape Town and in their home series in Hamilton. So they’re comfortably sitting atop the standings with 63 points and they’re obviously the top favourite for the Sydney leg. They will face a challenging contest with long time rivals in Fiji during this pool stage. But the Fijians haven’t looked at their best to start the season with just 31 points in 3 series and they missed the finals in Hamilton. Meanwhile, Kenya are showing good signs of returning to the final after solid performances in the last 2 series. So they could spring a few upsets to finish 2nd. But ultimately, we simply cannot back against the red-hot Kiwis at this stage.
TIP: New Zealand WIN - No Value Bet
Pool B
This has the feeling of a pool of death as France, Argentina, South Africa and Samoa are all capable of winning Pool B if they bring their absolute best. Starting with South Africa, they’ll be very keen to bounce back from a poor showing in New Zealand as they missed the finals. But they’re a quality side that has the ability to rebound. France has continued their form of last season with 48 points in the 3 series thus far and reached the final against NZ (lost 27-5). Argentina has been a consistent side this season with 3 good outings and they currently sit equal 5th in the standings. Meanwhile, the Samoans struggled in Cape Town and NZ so we’re not sure they can rebound. In the end, the French unit is looking really strong in 2020 and we expect them to take out this group at great value odds of $3.50.
Pool C
The host nation features in Pool C and will be looking to continue their form of last week. They survived a tough pool stage against Fiji and almost upset the eventual champions in New Zealand during a tense semi-final (17-14). Similarly to Fiji, the Americans have had a quiet start to the season as they’re 8th in the standings and have yet to feature in the top 3. But they will take confidence into the Sydney leg after finishing 2nd here last season. Scotland and Japan are basically making up the numbers and will likely compete for 3rd place. So with the Aussies coming off a great performance in Hamilton, they should be extra motivated to win the Sydney series and that starts with a good Pool performance.
Australia WIN Pool C
$1.90
Pool D
Pool D will see the English look to build upon their Hamilton performance after finishing 4th. They’re just outside the top 3 in the standings and with France/South Africa in a tough pool together, this could be England’s chance to bridge the gap. Canada were one of the more surprising teams in NZ as they earned 13 points and finished just 2 points behind France in Pool C. Consistency is their biggest flaw so it’ll be interesting to see how they respond. Ireland could be a sneaky chance for 2nd spot if they can beat Canada. But we can’t see England dropping a game in this fairly easy draw.
TIP: England WIN - No Value Bet
Prediction
Generally in Rugby 7s, the host nation is a nice bet in the outright markets and that has been the case in the 2019/2020 season as well. Last week, the Kiwis took out the series leg on their home turf and previously, South Africa came 2nd in Cape Town. So we have to like the huge value odds for the Aussies replicating their 2018 series win in Sydney. The positive for Australia is their performance just last week in New Zealand and the fact they almost beat the flying Kiwis across the ditch is a great sign for their chances this weekend.
