To Win Outright

Men’s Sevens:

Fiji 13/10, NZ 22/10, SA 7/2, Australia 4/1, England 14/1

Women’s Sevens:

NZ 7/10, Australia 15/10, Fiji 8/1, England 28/1, SA 350/1

Team South Africa’s men’s and women’s rugby sevens sides get their Commonwealth Games campaigns underway at Coventry Stadium on Friday.

The men’s team are in search of their second Commonwealth title, having triumphed in 2014 following a 17-12 defeat of New Zealand in the Glasgow final. The All Black Sevens have claimed every other edition of the Games – that’s a staggering five golds – and will be eager to defend the title they won so convincingly on the Gold Coast in 2018.

With just the Los Angeles leg of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series to go, the Blitzboks remain in pole position, two-points better off next-best Australia. While they raced ahead on the standings early on after winning each of the first four Covid-affected tournaments, a poor run of form since then has seen the chasing pack gain ground.

Possessing undoubtedly one of the most talented squads on the sevens circuit though, Neil Powell’s charges will be raring to bounce back with a big showing here; particularly with the Cape Town-based Rugby World Cup Sevens just around the corner.

Players like captain Siviwe Soyizwapi, Selvyn Davids and JC Pretorius will lead the charge for the men in green and gold, who will be strong contenders to see off the likes of New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.

Meanwhile, the SA women’s team are truly up against it if they are to secure a medal finish this year. Team SA finished eighth when women’s sevens rugby debuted at the Games in 2018, and they’ll come into the current competition severely undercooked, having played just once on the women’s circuit this season and managing a 10^th-place finish with a single win from five matches in Toulouse.

It’s difficult to see Paul Delport’s ladies seriously contending this time round. However, nations like Australia, Fiji, France and Ireland will be up there.

Men’s verdict: South Africa 7/2

Women’s verdict: Australia 15/10