Day 1
Australia v Portugal 5.22pm
‘Portugal are seen as underdogs yet they’ve played on the sevens scene for some years. They always seem to produce thrilling games, especially on day one, and the Australians normally fire a bit better later in the tournament. I fancy Portugal for this one.’
Tonga v Arabian Gulf 5.52pm
‘Tonga play a tight game of rugby but we should be able to compete if not win. Tonga are very physical but when they get disjointed there are moments when you can get in there and rattle them. They play like the Fijians a little bit, very hot headed. When it’s going their way they’re fantastic, but when someone gets in and about them, it all goes wrong quite quickly.’
Day 2
Fiji v USA 12.50pm
‘USA have improved hugely over the past two years I’ve been watching them. Fiji are another team who get better later in the tournament so USA have got a big chance in this one.’
Scotland v South Africa 5.58pm
‘Scotland always play well against South Africa, just from my experience when I was on the Scotland side. South Africa should come through but Scotland will give them a good scare, I think.’
England v Kenya 7.06pm
‘You never know what Kenya are going to do. They might turn up and rattle England. Kenya are always crowd pleasers, they’re nice guys and I think they could do quite well. We played against the Kenyan squad in Wellington and they just score tries out of nothing. Then make some huge mistakes. From a crowd’s point of view they’re ones to watch.’
New Zealand v Tonga 7.28pm
‘A big hard-hitting game, it’ll be an indication of how New Zealand will perform in the rest of the tournament. New Zealand are looking quite good at the moment.’
Women’s
England v USA 1.12pm
‘That should be a really good, tight game. I’ve seen both sides play before and they’re strong set-ups.’
England v Russia 4.08pm
‘Women’s rugby is quite big in Russia and it’s a very physical game. There’s quite a lot of the women players who play on the second strings circuit tour. It’ll be very physical.’
New Zealand v South Africa 6.42pm
‘New Zealand have got a good women’s system and South Africa I’m not too sure about. That should be a good game, but I think New Zealand will win.’
Charlie Keenan used to represent Scotland on the international Sevens circuit but, after playing pro rugby for Edinburgh in Scotland, Gran-Parma in Italy and El Salvador in Spain, he has taken on the role of coaching the Arabian Gulf Rugby Football Union squad in Dubai.
The details
The IRB Rugby World Cup Sevens starts on March 5 at The Sevens stadium on Al Ain Road. Tickets are available from Time Out Tickets. Call 800 4669 or visit www.itp.net/tickets to book.
Close to 150 buses will be available to transport fans from The Sevens venue to five locations across Dubai. Drop-off points are Media City, Barasti, Double Decker, The Irish Village and Chi @ The Lodge. These buses are free of charge and will be running from 5:30pm
