Preview: IRB Sevens, Wellington

Wellington plays host to sixteen teams at Westpac Stadium this weekend, in what is shaping up to be a thrilling spectacle on the third leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.

Wellington plays host to sixteen teams at Westpac Stadium on Friday and Saturday, in what is shaping up to be a thrilling spectacle on the third leg of the IRB Sevens World Series.

New Zealand will be hoping to win back the title they relinquished in the dying seconds of the Cup final last year against England, and will no doubt be regarded as favourites on the their home patch after leading the Series with 48 points following wins in Dubai and George.

The Kiwis will propel themselves even further towards a ninth World Series crown (they have won eight out of eleven) should they notch up another victory at the 'Cake Tin', which will leave chasing opposition with a mountain to climb.

New Zealand's closest rivals, Fiji, are only twelve points behind their hosts on the Series ladder and an upset win for the Islanders will level things up a bit with five legs of the tournament still to be played.

Fiji open their campaign against Scotland in Pool B, and will also face Papua New Guinea and Australia on Friday in the race for the Cup knock-out games.

Interestingly, two-time Rugby World Cup Sevens winning captain, Waisale Serevi – who also coached the Fijians to their sole World Series title – will be trying to inspire the Puk Puks of Papua New Guinea to success against some of his former team-mates.

One team hoping to come good after a disappointing start are defending IRB Series champions, South Africa. The Springbok Sevens side face probably their greatest challenge yet since Paul Treu took over the coaching six years ago when they kick off their Wellington challenge.

It's been a while since the men in green and gold won in Wellington (2002), and back then Treu was still playing and captaining the team! So it's been eight years overdue, which is going to be a motivating factor for Treu and his troops having lost in both plate finals in Dubai and George.

On Friday the team will have to fight it out against New Zealand and Sevens World Cup holders Wales for one of the two top pool positions and passage to the knock-out stages. Niue makes up the fourth team in Pool A.

But perhaps the most unpredictable group to play in front of the cauldron atmosphere likely to be presented by the Westpac Stadium this weekend, is Pool C. Drawn in this 'Group of Death' are defending IRB Wellington Sevens champions, England, as well as Kenya, Tonga and the USA – all have the potential of causing an upset over the other.

In Pool D, France and Canada will find it tough to emerge as victors over the likes of Samoa and Argentina. But Sevens is a funny game, and you can never rule anyone out.

In fact, all sixteen participating nations guarantees sting to all 44 matches.

Can Tonga fullfil their undoubted potential? They reached the Cup semi-finals two years ago. Will Serevi's Papua New Guinea raise the heart rate? They scored first against England last year. Will Niue slay a giant? Samoa came up short against them last year…

All these questions will be answered soon enough!

Fixtures, Day One:
(Kick-off is local time – GMT + 13 hours)
Match 1: Samoa v France, 13:00
Match 2: Argentina v Canada, 13:22
Match 3: England v United States, 13:44
Match 4: Kenya v Tonga, 14:06
Match 5: Fiji v Scotland, 14:28
Match 6: Australia v Papua New Guinea, 14:50
Match 7: New Zealand v Wales, 15:12
Match 8: South Africa v Niue, 15:34
Match 9: Samoa v Canada, 15:56
Match 10: Argentina v France, 16:18
Match 11: England v Tonga, 16:40
Match 12: Kenya v United States, 17:02
Match 13: Fiji v Papua New Guinea, 17:24
Match 14: Australia v Scotland, 17:46
Match 15: New Zealand v Niue, 18:08
Match 16: South Africa v Wales, 18:30
Match 17: France v Canada, 18:52
Match 18: United States v Tonga, 19:14
Match 19: Scotland v Papua New Guinea, 19:36
Match 20: Wales v Niue, 19:58
Match 21: Samoa v Argentina, 20:50
Match 22: England v Kenya, 21:12
Match 23: Fiji v Australia, 21:34
Match 24: New Zealand v South Africa, 21:56