02 April 2019, by: Gareth Rosslee

PUNTERS GUIDE TO THE HONG KONG 7s

There are a few pretenders to the throne – here’s looking at you Cape Town, Las Vegas, Dubai and Wellington – but when it comes to the biggest party on the Rugby Sevens Series there can be only one. The Hong Kong Sevens stands head and shoulders above as the gold standard event and out and out jol on the Sevens tour.

FLASHBACK ? With one week until the Hong Kong Sevens kick off, we take you back to 2014 with this incredible HAKA!#HK7s pic.twitter.com/amNvHVCYvX

— All Blacks Sevens (@AllBlacks7s) March 28, 2019

While the fancy dress, music and party in the South Stand might be entertaining for South African rugby fans and punters alike, what will really interest them is the sheer volume of rugby on offer and the very attractive viewing times.

Sevens can traditionally be a tricky game to schedule in your viewing – ask anyone who has tried to have a punt on the Las Vegas 7s – but with Hong Kong there are no such problems. If you’re up really early there’s some of the Women’s Sevens games to watch and the all-important qualifiers where smaller nations compete to become core nations on the Sevens circuit. For the rest of us the games kick off at a more reasonable time and carry on through to lunch time. Enjoy a punt with your post toasties!

The Blitzboks have landed a favourable draw for the tournament courtesy of their victory at the Vancouver Sevens and they face Samoa, Scotland and Japan in their pool. The Blitzboks play their first pool game on Friday after the appetite has been well and truly whet with the culmination of the Womens Sevens and some preliminary Qualifier games.

It’s Hong Kong Sevens time! Let’s get behind the boys ??#hk7s pic.twitter.com/pWzCtYSaKR

— BET.co.za (@betcoza) April 3, 2019

Cup Quarter-Finals – Sunday: 04:56 – 06:05

Cup Semi-Finals – Sunday: 09:39 – 10:01

Cup Final – Sunday: 12:55

Fiji are looking to extend their utter domination of the Hong Kong Sevens with a fifth consecutive win and seventh win in the last eight tournaments. History also tells us that looking outside of Fiji (14 wins), New Zealand (9), England (4) and Samoa (3) could be a fruitless task as they have won every tournament since Australia’s victory in 1985. We can discount Samoa and make it a 3 way decision with a massive preference for Fiji.

You don’t need to a genius to back Fiji here, but when the odds are released expect them to be short.  If you punt them to make it five in a row, then maybe a small cover on the Kiwis is the prudent play.

1. USA, 113 pts
2. New Zealand, 106 pts
3. Fiji, 101 pts
4. South Africa, 89 pts
5. England, 80 pts

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