Round Four of the IRB/HSBC Sevens World Series 2012/13 is in Wellington this coming weekend 1/2 February.
We are expecting an exciting weekend with lots of colour especially as the weather forecast is for sunshine throughout. Warmer temperatures are ideal as 23/24C and the night’s down to 16C by the time we are in bed.
So three rounds gone and three different winners with first up in Australia Fiji beating All Blacks 32-14, then in Dubai Samoa beating All Blacks 26-15 and last time out in South Africa All Blacks beating France 47-12. You would not want to bet on anyone other than All Blacks winning this one. Especially as they have a straightforward pool for them. So here are our predictions:
Pool ‘A’ Winners All Blacks and at last for England an easier pool so they should go through as runners up provided they beat the improving Spain and USA. Pool ‘B’ Winners France to continue their improvement, tough call between Argentina and Kenya as runners up but we will go for Kenya, hoping they are not jet-lagged with the late arrival. Pool ‘C’ Winners Samoa with South Africa as runners up. Pool ‘D’ Winners Fiji with Australia as runners up, though this is another pool where the runner up could be a surprise.
For the Cup Quarter-finals we see the All Blacks beating Australia, Samoa beating Kenya, Fiji beating England and France beating South Africa. This will give us All Blacks v Samoa and Fiji v France semi-final with All Blacks beating Fiji in the final.
Pools
Pool A
All Blacks, United States, England, Spain
Pool B
France, Argentina, Kenya, Tonga
Pool C
South Africa, Wales, Samoa, Canada
Pool D
Portugal, Fiji, Australia, Scotland
Here are all the day one fixtures with our predictions as usual in Bold:
Fixtures Day One
01. 01 Feb 13:00 France v Kenya Pool B
02. 01 Feb 13:22 Argentina v Tonga Pool B
03. 01 Feb 13:44 South Africa v Samoa Pool C
04. 01 Feb 14:06 Wales v Canada Pool C
05. 01 Feb 14:28 Portugal v Australia Pool D
06. 01 Feb 14:50 Fiji v Scotland Pool D
07. 01 Feb 15:12 All Blacks v England Pool A
08. 01 Feb 15:34 United States v Spain Pool A
09. 01 Feb 15:56 France v Tonga Pool B
10. 01 Feb 16:18 Argentina v Kenya Pool B
11. 01 Feb 16:40 South Africa v Canada Pool C
12. 01 Feb 17:02 Wales v Samoa Pool C
13. 01 Feb 17:24 Portugal v Scotland Pool D
14. 01 Feb 17:46 Fiji v Australia Pool D
15. 01 Feb 18:08 All Blacks v Spain Pool A
16. 01 Feb 18:30 United States v England Pool A
17. 01 Feb 18:52 Kenya v Tonga Pool B
18. 01 Feb 19:14 Samoa v Canada Pool C
19. 01 Feb 19:36 France v Argentina Pool B
20. 01 Feb 20:28 Australia v Scotland Pool D
21. 01 Feb 20:50 England v Spain Pool A
22. 01 Feb 21:12 South Africa v Wales Pool C
23. 01 Feb 21:34 Portugal v Fiji Pool D
24. 01 Feb 21:56 All Blacks v United States Pool A