It’s time for one of the biggest rugby parties of the year in PE. To finance it, how about 20/1 from BetFlash on the Blitzbokke to take the title with England second, Fiji third and the Kiwis 4th?
Tank Lanning
It is party time at the Nelson Mandela Bay Sevens in Port Elizabeth. Well, for us that is. For the players, it is time for the third stop on the Sevens World Series …
The Blitzbokke have made two changes to their 12-man squad. Steven Hunt replaces Jamba Ulengo while Kwagga Smith will make his debut in place of Stephan Dippenaar. Ulengo (foot) and Dippenaar (hamstring) were injured last week in Dubai.
Veteran forward Frankie Horne has been declared fit and will play in his 53rd tournament, a unique record. Smith, a Junior Springbok, has been part of the SA Sevens Academy and the wider Springbok Sevens training group for the past two years.
The Blitzbok squad for Port Elizabeth is:
Chris Dry (30 tournaments), Philip Snyman (17), Frankie Horne (52), Kwagga Smith (0), Sampie Mastriet (4), Kyle Brown (35) – captain, Branco du Preez (25), Steven Hunt (20), Justin Geduld (6), Cecil Afrika (26), Werner Kok (2), Cheslin Kolbe (5)
BetFlash have come up with a few sneaky Flashpots that could well finance your weekend in Castle Corner should they come off … To help you with those calls, a look at last weekend’s results in Dubai:
Final Cup: Fiji 29 – 17 South Africa
SF Cup: South Africa 26 – 12 England
SF Cup: New Zealand 0 – 44 Fiji
Third Place: New Zealand 17 – 14 England
Final Plate: Argentina 21 – 5 Wales
Final Bowl: Portugal 12 – 17 Australia
Final Shield: Spain 17 – 28 France
And the current Series standings after 2 rounds:
1 New Zealand – 39 points
2 Fiji – 35
3 South Africa – 34
4 England – 32
5 Australia – 27
The odds from BetFlash:
1.Fiji, 2.New Zealand, 3.South Africa, 4.England 7/2
1.New Zealand, 2.Fiji, 3.South Africa, 4.England 4/1
1.South Africa, 2.Fiji, 3.New Zealand, 4 .Samoa 7/1
1.South Africa, 2.New Zealand, 3.Fiji, 4.England 8/1
1.South Africa, 2.Samoa, 3.Fiji, 4.New Zealand 12/1
1.South Africa, 2.England, 3.Fiji, 4.New Zealand 20/1
1.England, 2.Fiji, 3. South Africa, 4.New Zealand – 30/1
Sevens is a bit like T20 cricket in that a game result can be hugely influenced by the performance of a single player, thus making it pretty damn unpredictable. Interesting to see that they have not included Australia in any of the permutations though. Instead going for Samoa, who have been well off the boil this year. I would steer clear of that option, even at 12 to 1!
And obviously they do not have a whole lot of faith in the Blitzbokke! SA beating the Kiwis in the final with Fiji beating England in the playoff is completely feasible … And at 8 to 1, R20 on that will get you a pretty feisty stay in Castle Corner on Saturday!
Sure, Fiji and New Zealand deserve to be favourites, and with Fiji winning in Dubai, 7/2 on that combo is understandable, but with the support the All Blacks get in SA, they would be my side to beat. 4 to 1 on the Kiwis beating Fiji in the final with the Blitzbokke beating the Poms in the curtain raiser is the one I would go for. R50 on that little sucker and those first 10 drafts in castle Corner are on Betflash!!
And for those more keen on the 15 man game, check out the following Heineken Cup odds from BetFlash:
Northampton 0.65, Draw 20, Leinster 1.25
Castres 0.24, Draw 22, Ospreys 3
Cardiff 1.2, Draw 20, Glasgow 0.7
Toulouse 0.01, Draw 27.5, Connacht 12.5
Zebre 7.8, Draw 29.5, Saracens 0.05
Clermont 0.02, Draw 29.5, Scarlets 11
Racing-Metro 92 0.45, Draw 21, Harlequin FC 1.75
Leicester 0.11, Draw 25, Montpellier 5.4
Ulster 0.01, Draw 27.5, Benetton 12.5
Edinburgh 0.8, Draw 20, Gloucester 1.05
Munster 0.07, Draw 27.5, Perpignan 6.4
Anyone brave enough to put a few South African Rands on Connacht or Benetton causing the upset of the weekend. At 25/2, it would put a real smile on your dial come Sunday evening!!
To close, the weekend fixtures and times:
Saturday Sevens in PE:
11:00 New Zealand vs Portugal
11:22 Wales vs USA
11:44 England vs Samoa
12:06 Argentina vs Zimbabwe
12:28 Fiji vs Australia
12:50 Scotland vs France
13:12 South Africa vs Canada
13:34 Kenya vs Spain
14:06 New Zealand vs USA
14:28 Wales vs Portugal
14:50 England vs Zimbabwe
15:12 Argentina vs Samoa
15:34 Fiji vs France
15:56 Scotland vs Australia
16:18 South Africa vs Spain
16:40 Kenya vs Canada
17:14 Portugal vs USA
17:36 New Zealand vs Wales
17:58 Samoa vs Zimbabwe
18:20 England vs Argentina
18:52 Australia vs France
19:14 Fiji vs Scotland
19:36 Canada vs Spain
19:58 South Africa vs Kenya
Heineken Cup:
Friday 06 December
22:00 Cardiff Blues vs Glasgow Warriors
22:00 Castres vs Ospreys
Saturday 07 December
15:35 Clermont Auvergne vs Scarlets
15:35 Exeter Chiefs vs Toulon
15:35 Zebre vs Saracens
17:40 Racing Metro vs Harlequins
20:00 Northampton Saints vs Leinster
20:00 Ulster vs Benetton Treviso
Sunday 08 December
14:45 Munster vs Perpignan
15:00 Edinburgh vs Gloucester Rugby
17:00 Leicester Tigers vs Montpellier
17:00 Toulouse vs Connacht
