The 2019/2020 Rugby 7s season begins this weekend in Dubai at The Sevens Stadium, which was purposely built for Rugby 7s. With the Olympics coming up next year, this season should be a great spectacle as the top countries look to build form before Tokyo 2020.
Dubai Rugby 7s Betting Tips
Pool A
Headlining Pool A will be the series champions of last season in the Flying Fijians. They finished off last season with series victories in London and Paris to claim the title with a total of 186 points. They’re basically unbackable favourites in this Pool at $1.14 and should have no trouble finishing first. France showed really good improvement last season as they finished 8th with 99 points. They finished off the European leg with impressive results and will look to build on those performances in 2019/2020. Argentina was an inconsistent team last season so it’s hard to see them upsetting the Pool in this one. We can’t see Fiji dropping out of first place in Pool A.
TIP: Fiji WIN - No Value Bet
Pool B
The Americans come off a solid campaign where they finished 2nd with 177 points and they’ll look for another fast start in Dubai. They finished runner-up to New Zealand in last season’s Dubai series and that started a string of 4 straight runner-up placings before winning in Las Vegas. Australia will look for more consistency in 2019/2020 after a pretty disappointing campaign last year. Their 7th placed finish and the 104 points total was their lowest in the last 5 years of Rugby 7s. But they should finish 2nd in this Pool if they knock off Ireland/Scotland. Ultimately though, we can’t back against the USA in this Pool as they should easily win all 3 games.
TIP: USA WIN - No Value Bet
Pool C
New Zealand are the defending champions in Dubai after smashing the Americans 21-5 in the final. They were inconsistent in the middle stages of last season which ultimately saw them finish 3rd with 162 points. But their record in Dubai is worth looking at and we’ll go into that further in the prediction section. Samoa just missed out on a top-two spot in Dubai last season by points differential. But with matchups against Canada and Wales, they should comfortably get through to the next stage this time. Again, not much value in this Pool either as the Kiwis should finish undefeated and Samoa should finish 2nd.
TIP: New Zealand WIN - No Value Bet
Pool D
It’s South Africa vs England in Rugby once again as the two countries headline Pool D. South Africa won’t be overly pleased with their 4th place finish last season and they finished with just 12 points in Dubai in 2018. So the South African’s could be really dangerous if they get on a roll early. Meanwhile, England doesn’t fill us with confidence after an incredibly poor ending to last season. In a favourable European leg, they finished with just 2 points on their home turf in London and 5 points in Paris. Interestingly, they have finished 3rd in 3 straight Dubai series so there’s a chance they could spring a few upsets on the way to the finals. Meanwhile, Kenya and Spain are the kind of teams that can be dangerous if a top side is off their game but they’re just too inconsistent overall. Can’t see South Africa losing to England so again, not much value in this Pool either.
TIP: South Africa WIN - No Value Bet
Prediction
So not much value in the Pool stages if all goes to plan so we’re saving our best value bet for the overall winner - New Zealand. The Kiwis have the best overall record in the rich history of Dubai Sevens. As mentioned, they beat the USA last season and previously reached the final against South Africa (losing 24-12). Overall, they’ve won this series 6 times, finished runner-up 4 times and have the best top 4 records of any country. So we find $6.00 for New Zealand to win the 2019 Dubai series as very juicy odds.
