The third round of the HSBC World Rugby Sevens takes place in Wellington, New Zealand this weekend with World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams set to make his Sevens debut.
The World Rugby Sevens heads to Wellington this weekend for the third round of the season with Fiji and South Africa leading the way with 35 points, while USA and Argentina are next in line with 29 each with England a bit further behind on 26.
New Zealand, who have won four of the last five Wellington Sevens, are seventh on the standings list after picking up 25 points from their opening two rounds in Dubai and Cape Town.
Sonny Bill Williams of New Zealand kisses the Webb Ellis Cup. (Phil Walter/Getty Images)
South Africa will be looking to take over as the overall leaders and are on offer at 7/2, while England can be backed at 14/1.
New Zealand will be eager to make an impression on home soil and they have named a strong squad for the third round which takes place from January 30-31. Two-time World Cup winner Sonny Bill Williams will make his debut in a Sevens tournament, while Rieko and Akira Ioane will line up with each other for the first time. Ardie Savea, Ben Lam and Kurt Baker are set for their first appearances of the season.
Other team news for this weekend's event sees Semi Kunatani return to the Fiji squad and needs just one try to reach 50, while South Africa's hopes of winning this round has taken a knock with Werner Kok, Kyle Brown, Cecil Afrika and Ryno Benjamin all missing in Wellington.
What is the HSBC World Rugby Sevens?
South African's Rosko Speckman (L) skips an Argentinian opponent. (GIANLUIGI GUERCIA/AFP/Getty Images)
The Sevens series is rugby union's stripped-down version, each side is allowed to have seven players and the game is played on a normal field. Games are of shorter duration and last for only seven to ten minutes in each half.
The rules are also much simpler and it allows players to perform superb feats, with plenty of try scoring opportunities. Traditionally, Sevens tournament is conducted in the two-day format.
The teams are split into four pools. Within the pool, the teams play round-robin matches. Points are awarded as follows:
- Win – 3 points
- Draw – 2 points
- Loss – 1 point
- No-show – 0
If there is tie after the pool matches, the winner is decided on the basis of tiebreakers as follows:
- Tied teams head-to-head results
- Points scored/allowed during pool matches
- Tries scored/allowed during pool matches
- Points scored in the pool matches
- Coin toss
The two teams at the top in each pool compete for the Cup. The quarter-final losers compete for the Plate. The teams that finish third and fourth place in each pool compete for the Bowl. Finally, the losing quarter finalists of the Bowl compete for the Shield.
HSBC World Rugby Sevens Pools:
Pool A
South Africa
New Zealand
Scotland
Russia
Pool B
Argentina
Fiji
Wales
Japan
Pool C
France
USA
England
Samoa
Pool D
Kenya
Australia
Canada
Portugal
Fiji 6/4, New Zealand 6/4, South Africa 7/2, USA 12/1, England 14/1, Australia, 16/1, Argentina 66/1, France 66/1, Kenya 80/1, Samoa 100/1, Scotland 125/1, Wales 150/1, Canada 150/1, Japan 500/1, Portugal 500/1, Russia 500/1.
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