Rugby Sevens remains in the South Pacific this weekend after a successful fourth tournament of the year in Hamilton, New Zealand, last weekend. The 2023 HSBC World Sevens Series will now hop across the ditch to Sydney, Australia, where the fifth event of the year will occur from January 27th to 29th.
New Zealand will be devastated to have had a last-minute try disallowed in the Hamilton Sevens final last weekend, which saw them lose their home tournament to Argentina by two points. No doubt the Kiwis will head over to Sydney hungry for redemption but will be met by an Australian side eager to rekindle their Hong Kong form and win in front of a home crowd. Nothing to say about a Fijian team who have uncharacteristically not won a tournament yet this season in four attempts. We bring all the best predictions and expert picks ahead of the first kickoff this Friday.
| Event: | 2023 HSBC World Sevens Series in Australia (Sydney) |
| Format: | 16 teams compete in four pools, followed by knockout games |
| Venue: | Allianz Stadium, Sydney, Australia |
| Date: | Friday, 27 January to Sunday, 29 January 2023 |
Here’s a look at the overall Australia 2023 Rugby Sevens odds ahead of this weekend’s tournament from bookmakers in Australia:
Looking at the betting odds for the rugby 7s Australia 2023, the field has tightened up since last weekend in Hamilton. New Zealand still lead the odds at 3.75 (11/4) after narrowly missing out on their first title of the season last week. Fiji are right behind them and will be eager to improve on their recent quarterfinal defeat. Next come Australia, Argentina, and South Africa on 6.00 (5/1) to 6.50 (11/2), with each side having won a title in the 2023 season already. On any modern sportsbook live streaming option is available, so take your chance.
Australia has a proud history of hosting Sevens events, with the first Australian Sevens tournament occurring in 1986. The tournament is currently hosted in Sydney but has previously occurred in Brisbane and Adelaide as well. Since 2000 it has been a part of the HSBC World Sevens Series, prior to which it was an invitational tournament.
This will be the first time since 2020 the tournament has been played; however, due to strict Australian border controls surrounding Covid-19. Across the past two decades, Fiji and New Zealand have dominated the Australian Sevens, with the two teams winning 10 times between them.
Here’s a look at the past five results:
The home side Australia has won this event just two times under the HSBC World Sevens Series, with their most recent coming in 2018. Given their recent form, no doubt they’ll be eager to improve that number this weekend.
For those who like to bet on rugby, here are the top three bets we recommend making ahead of this weekend’s play:
Australia are currently seventh in the overall HSBC World Sevens Series standings after the first four events of the year. The men in gold began the season with a hiss and a roar, claiming the title at the Hong Kong Sevens, but have been off the pace since then, failing to make another semifinal.
However, playing at home, in front of passionate fans, Australia have every chance of putting together a deep run in this tournament. While we don’t necessarily believe they’ll be able to go all the way and win the Sydney Sevens, they’ve been placed in a pool alongside Argentina, Great Britain, and Canada. They should navigate the latter two with no issues, meaning all they need to do is win a big game against Argentina to take the top spot in Pool A.
Given that Argentina will be coming off the high of winning the New Zealand Sevens last weekend, and Australia will be motivated at home, we say this is a good bet with a return of 1.91 (10/11).
In three of the four events this HSBC World Sevens Series season, the USA have finished round-robin play top of their pool. While their best result in the knockout rounds has been third place on two occasions, they’ve consistently performed well in pool play this season.
We say the USA will do so again in Sydney, having been drawn in a pool alongside Samoa, Ireland, and Spain. This is a very level pool, which generates healthy odds. The USA have a good chance of winning all their games, but even if they drop one, they’ll still have a good shot at topping the pool, given how competitive the pool will be. Based on their form this season and last weekend, odds of 2.37 (11/8) are an excellent bet on the USA topping Pool C in Australia.
Fifth time lucky for the Kiwis this weekend. Twice they’ve finished runners-up this season, with last weekend seeing a try on full-time disallowed by the video referee. They’ve been the most consistent side across the first four tournaments without winning one, and with the Rugby World Cup Sevens 2023 just around the corner, the All-Black Sevens will be motivated to take their game to the next level this weekend.
Playing in Australia will see plenty of New Zealand supporters in the stands, and the Kiwis have found plenty of success here in the past as well. There’s a reason the online bookies have consistently had New Zealand as favorites to win this year, despite the Kiwis not claiming a title yet – they’re well overdue and should do it this weekend.
Rugby Sevens heads to Australia this weekend, where 16 of the world’s best teams will compete in the fifth HSBC World Sevens Series tournament this season. New Zealand were cruelly deprived of a win last weekend, and we say they’ll finally get their hands on the silverware this weekend. Home side Australia will be eager to prevent this though, as will Fiji, South Africa, and last weekend’s winners Argentina. Tune in this weekend with our bet architects to find out who prevails and check if our rugby 7s betting tips were correct enough.
