With the FIFA World Cup just concluded, the sporting world turns its attention to another World Cup. This time, it’s rugby that will be holding its own World Cup, and while it’s not as popular as its football counterpart, the organizers have taken their show to the biggest sports market in the planet in the hopes of turning the sport into a bigger global feature.
This year’s Rugby World Cup Sevens will be the seventh edition of the event. A total of 84 matches (including 32 women’s matches) will be played over three days from July 20-22, 2018, at the home of Major League Baseball’s San Francisco Giants, the AT&T Park in San Francisco, California, in the United States.
There are a total of 24 teams participating in the Men’s World Cup Sevens, including nine automatic qualifiers. These are the 8 teams that made the quarterfinals of the 2013 World Cup Sevens and the host nation. The top four teams from the 2016-2017 World Series Sevens (that weren’t part of the 8 automatic qualifiers) are also given automatic berths, while the remaining 11 slots are disputed by qualifiers from the world’s different continents -two each from the six different regions, with the exception of North America, which gets only one spot.
The seedings were determined based on their rankings from the 2018 Hong Kong Sevens qualifier. This year will be the first time in the history of the World Cup Sevens where the tournament will be played using a knockout format.
New Zealand defeated England to win the men’s 2013 Rugby World Cup Sevens final in Moscow, Russia. In the women’s side, New Zealand also won, defeating Canada.
The winners will proceed to the Championship Cup Round of 16, while the losers head to the Bowl quarterfinals.
The winners proceed to the Championship Cup quarterfinals, while the losers head to the Challenge quarterfinals.
The winners proceed to Bowl semifinals, while the losers play in the 21-24 place games.
The winners proceed to Challenge semifinals, while the losers play in the 13-16 place games.
The winners proceed to Championship Cup semifinals, while the losers play in the 5-8 place games.
The winners proceed to the Final, while the losers play in the 19-20 place games.
The winners proceed to Challenge Final, while the losers head to 11-12 place game.
The winners proceed to Championship Cup Final, while the losers play in the Bronze Final.
Fiji is the odds-on favorite to win this tournament at -106. The Fijian 7s unit is one of the best sports teams in the world and is oozing with pedigree all over the pitch. The Fiji 7s rely on stars Josua Tuisova, Semi Radradra, and Leone Nakarawa to pick their opponents’ defenses apart. Perhaps the biggest challenge to Fiji would be their own inconsistency, but expect this team to make a deep run in the tournament.
South Africa is next to Fiji on the oddsboard at +225. The South Africans have a strong resume in the Sevens, having won six tournaments since 2016. Most notably, the Blitzboks were the 2016-17 World Rugby Sevens Series champions and also took home the bronze medal in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
New Zealand comes after South Africa at +700. The All Blacks Sevens is the most popular team in rugby. It’s also won two out of the first six Rugby World Cup Sevens and has a record of 33-5 in this tournament. New Zealand captain Scott Curry has been with the team since the Dubai Sevens in 2010, while Tim Mikkelson is the scoring leader for the Kiwis with 959 career points.
The host United States comes in fourth at +1100. The Americans are fresh off a victory at the 2018 USA Sevens and should get extra confidence playing in front of their hometown fans. Perry Baker and Carlin Isles are always a threat to go the distance and should get plenty of one-on-one opportunities here.
Here are the complete odds for the men’s side of the World Cup Rugby Sevens at 888sport.com as of July 18, 2018:
What makes this year’s edition of the World Cup Sevens unique is the fact that it will be played using a knockout format. This means that the tournament winner should go on an unbeaten run to win it all. Interestingly, a potential semifinals showdown between favorites Fiji and New Zealand looms, and many look at that as the championship game of this tournament.
Given that only one of Fiji and New Zealand is going to the championship match, the likes of the United States, Ireland, and South Africa have a chance to win this from the other side of the bracket.
With lethal strikers Baker and Isles, the Americans have what it takes to win this. At +1100, the United States is my dark horse for this tournament. Ireland is also a team to watch after a solid 3rd-place finish at the London 7s. But the thing with the Irish is that if they beat Chile in their opener, they will most probably face South Africa next. However, should they beat South Africa, they could pull off the biggest surprise here.
New Zealand has always been the standard for rugby. But it hasn’t been as dominant as it was during the first half of this decade. Fiji, meanwhile, has the most talented team in the tournament, and as we said earlier, their toughest competition may be themselves. The winner of the Fiji vs. New Zealand semifinals match will win this tournament, and we’re going with Fiji all the way.
Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
