Olympic Women’s Rugby 7s Semifinal and Championship Odds: New Zealand, France Favored
By Robert Duff in Rugby
Published:
- Gold medal favorites New Zealand are 10.5-point favorites over Fiji in one Olympic women’s rugby 7s semfinal on Friday, July 30
- Great Britain, the reigning silver medal winners from Rio, are 3.5-point underdogs to France in Friday’s other semifinal
- Australia, the 2016 Olympic champion, was eliminated in the quarterfinals
There will be a new Olympic women’s rugby 7s champion crowned in Tokyo. Friday’s semifinals are pitting New Zealand against Fiji in one match. France will face Great Britain in the other semifinal.
Favored to win the gold medal, New Zealand are solid 10.5-point favorites to take the measure of the Fijians. The French are the 3.5-point choice over the British to join New Zealand in the gold medal match.
Olympic Women’s Rugby 7s Odds
| Country | Odds |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | -300 |
| France | +1200 |
| Great Britain | +1600 |
| Fiji | +6500 |
Odds as of July 30th at DraftKings.
Fiji and New Zealand clash at 10pm ET on Friday. The France-Britain match follows immediately afterward at 10:30pm.
The two semifinal winners will battle for the gold medal at 11pm ET.
Black Ferns Seek Golden Moment
New Zealand’s women’s rugby 7s side has been building toward this event since settling for a silver medal at the Rio de Janeiro Summer Games. The Black Ferns have won every international title in women’s rugby 7s except for an Olympic gold medal.
See you in the SEMI-FINALS! 🙌🏽@TheNZTeam pic.twitter.com/ZhNAPW52Os
— Black Ferns (@BlackFerns) July 30, 2021
New Zealand won international seven-aside events in Sydney, Hamilton, Cape Town, and Dubai last season. As well, the Black Ferns also finished atop the standings in both the 2019 and 2017 Sevens Series.
In Portia Woodman, they are led by the only player in rugby history to be selected player of the year in both 7s and 15-aside rugby. Stacey Fluhler, Ruby Tui and captain Sarah Hirini are equally dangerous threats.
Fiji vs New Zealand Olympic Women’s Rugby 7s Semifinal Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Spread |
|---|---|---|
| Fiji | +425 | +10.5 (-110) |
| New Zealand | -500 | -10.5 (-115) |
Russia felt the power of the mighty Black Ferns in successive matches. In the final match of pool play, New Zealand crushed the Russian side 33-0.
As fate would have it, New Zealand and Russia were drawn to meet again in the quarterfinals. This time, the outcome went 36-0 in New Zealand’s favor. In total, the Black Ferns scored 11 tries during the back-to-back wins over Russia.
Team Fiji Rugby Sevens Women's team were defeated by Team France 12 – 5 in a tight game.#gofijigo #inspirefiji #StrongerTogether #TeamFiji pic.twitter.com/H4Nat6h7Pt
— Team Fiji (@TeamFiji) July 29, 2021
The lethal power of the Black Ferns was in evidence during a pool play match against Great Britain. Starting out uncharacterisically sloppy, the Black Ferns fell behind 21-0. Kicking into gear, they roared back for a 26-21 triumph.
New Zealand and Fiji are old rivals, so the Black Ferns won’t be looking past the Fijians. Fiji upset 2016 gold medal winners Australia 14-12 in the quarterfinals.
Pick: New Zealand -10.5 (-115)
France vs Great Britain Olympic Women’s Rugby 7s Semifinal Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Spread |
|---|---|---|
| France | -170 | -3.5 (-105) |
| Great Britain | +155 | +3.5 (-120) |
France required a trip to the repechage to earn their spot in Tokyo but les Blues are firing on all cylinders since arriving in Japan. Avenging their 2016 quarterfinal loss, the French crushed Canada 31-0, winning their pool and pushing the Canadians out of the medal hunt.
Séraphine Okemba (two), Caroline Drouin and Anne-Cécile Ciofani all scored tries as France won a surprisingly hard-fought 24-10 quarterfinal over China. France has yet to taste defeat in Tokyo. The French also beat Fiji (12-5) and Brazil (40-5) in pool play.
Many congratulations to @TeamGB who have beaten USA in the quarter finals of the Women's Rugby Sevens in #Tokyo2020👏
A huge congratulations also to former @CamberleyRugby player Alex Matthews who is part of the squad!
They now play France in the semi finals tomorrow morning!🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/EjCfVHQUXi— Surrey Heath (@Surreyheath) July 30, 2021
Along with their loss to New Zealand, the British scraped past Russia 14-12. A last-second try by Holly Aitchison and conversion from Abigail Brown delivered the margin of victory.
In their only lopsided match the Brits blanked Kenya 31-0 in pool play. In the quarterfinals against the USA they raced to a 21-0 lead and held on to win 21-12.
Pick: France -3.5 (-105)
Sports Writer
An industry veteran, Bob literally taught the course on the history of sports at Elder College. He has worked as a Sports Columnist for Postmedia, appeared as a guest on several radio stations, was the Vice President of the Society For International Hockey Research in Ontario, and written 25 books.
