With just seven players on each side and seven-minute halves for competition, Rugby Sevens is played at a break-neck speed. Tries are scored quickly. The action is intense. The hits are brutal. And the fans love it.
Rugby Sevens, which is overseen by World Rugby, has teams and leagues ranging from youth to college to professional and national clubs. In fact, the Summer Olympics features Rugby 7s for both men and women.
For bettors, Rugby Sevens—known simply as Sevens—provides another shot to place bets on the game. Below find a short guide on this small yet mighty version of rugby to help you bet on Rugby Sevens in Canada.
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We always urge bettors to do as much research as they can before ever placing their first wager, no matter the sport. Just because Rugby 7s is a quicker, smaller version of the original game, it doesn’t make it any easier to handicap or research.
Everyone will develop their own Rugby 7s betting strategy, but we suggest that you start by finding out the odds of upcoming matches, prop bets, and the like. Check for the most up-to-date odds information available before making your Rugby Sevens bets on any of our preferred sportsbooks you find above.
How is Rugby Sevens different from rugby?
The game itself is pretty much the same as the larger, more recognizable versions, but there are definitely a few rule differences that should be noted. You could easily compare the differences to that of 11-man football vs. the eight-player game that can be found in more rural areas and smaller school districts throughout North America. They are mostly similar but tonally different.
The largest difference is the easiest to spot, and that is the number of players on the pitch. Instead of 15 players per side, Rugby 7s has just seven. That means fewer defenders, which means more scoring, which makes the games quite electrifying at times.
Take, for example, that conversions following a try must be completed within 30 seconds of the ball touching down in the try zone, and those conversions must be drop kicked. In addition to that, differences include having just three players in a scrum from each team (as opposed to eight) and a yellow card from an official leads to a two-minute player suspension instead of the 10 minutes in traditional rugby.
Now, when it comes to sports betting, you’re not going to find a lot of differences between the rugby variants. The bet types are the same, the rules work the same and sportsbooks typically list them all together on their sports betting sites and in their mobile apps.
Betting on Rugby 7s in Canada
With legal and regulated sportsbooks, almost every sport can be found in at least one of them. Thankfully for fans, rugby betting odds are regularly posted at Canadian online sportsbooks.
Rugby Sevens is no different in that regard, and the majority of online sportsbooks offer Rugby 7s odds. That will prove especially true during any Summer Olympics.
When it comes to the various bet types, here is a short breakdown of what you’ll likely see. Keep in mind that when you are wagering via legal and regulated online and mobile sportsbooks, they almost always use “American odds.” These typically indicate the favourite to win a game with a negative number (such as -110), and the underdogs are listed with a positive (+130, for example).
- Moneylines: Here, your job is to choose which team is going to win, and if you’re right you will be paid out based on your wager and the connected odds. It’s really that simple.
- Spreads: Oddsmakers “even the playing field” by assigning points to the underdog to give them a chance at “winning” the game. The favourite must win the game by more than the points assigned, and the underdog either needs to win outright or lose by fewer points than listed in the sportsbooks. You choose which you think will happen, and bets are based on the associated odds.
- Three-way spread: Bettors are tasked with picking a team to win or choosing whether the final score will end with a draw. As with the “normal” spread, oddsmakers assign points to the underdog, and those are factored into the final score. You can either pick which team will win (just like above) or you can choose that the game will end in a tie.
- Alternative two-way handicaps: You adjust the spread by selecting the number of points to factor into the final score. You can increase your chances of winning that way, but for every point you add, the less of a return on your bet you will see. That’s because the odds shift along with the added points.
- Totals: The oddsmakers come up with a combined final score between the two competing teams. You have to decide whether those two teams will be able to score higher or lower that amount. You don’t have to worry about which team wins, just about the combined final score between the two squads. This bet type is also commonly called the over/under.
- Winning margins: Bettors choose the team to win and by how many points, or within a point range. The more specific you can be when making your prediction, then the better the payout.
Live betting on Rugby Sevens
Live betting, which is sometimes known as in-game betting, allows you to make bets while the game is played in real-time. Like the games themselves, in-game betting is fast, and it can be intense. Sports betting odds are constantly shifting as the game goes on; get ready to be immersed.
In reality, it’s the most interactive form of sports betting currently available, and its popularity is growing by leaps and bounds.
If you’re interested in trying your hand at live betting, there’s something you need to keep in mind: you absolutely need to use mobile or online sportsbooks to take part. That’s not some kind of sales pitch (besides, signing up for sportsbooks is free).
Frankly, brick-and-mortar sportsbooks can’t keep up with the constant shift of odds as the game goes on. If they can’t keep up, you can’t keep up. Online sportsbooks, however, are able to instantly communicate the updated odds to the bettor, allowing you to stay on top of the shifts. This is as interactive as it gets.
Nearly every legal and regulated sportsbook app or online sportsbook offers live betting, so you’ll be able to use your favourite without worrying about missing out on the fun.
Rugby FAQ
Who invented rugby and when?
Sometimes it’s tough to decipher the fact from the fiction when it comes to the origin of rugby. As far as anyone can tell, the game was “officially” created in 1823. The most likely fictional story tells of a student at the Rugby School in England by the name of William Webb Ellis. He grew tired of just playing soccer, so he picked up the ball, ran into the goal and set it down. Rugby, they say, was born (though, no doubt, soccer fans weren’t thrilled with the move).
History does show us that a game called harpastum, which has many similarities to rugby, was played by the people of the Roman Empire more than 2,000 years ago. There were also games sharing multiple aspects with rugby played throughout the history of England.
Is there professional rugby?
There are professional leagues across the globe, including Rugby Sevens, Rugby Union, and Rugby League. While the sport is more popular in some regions of the world than in others, the popularity continues to grow as it becomes more recognized in various countries.
Is rugby 7s played in the Olympics?
The Summer Olympics do indeed include rugby. Rugby 7s is the chosen version, and it will feature teams for both men and women from all over the world. Each team has seven players on the pitch and five substitutes (though only three are allowed to play in any particular match). The games have seven-minute halves for a total of 14 minutes of playing time, though the Olympic championship game does have 10-minute halves.