3 minutes Here at betting.bet we’ll preview the upcoming competition, bringing the best rugby free bets and Rugby World Cup odds from our local partners at Ladbrokes.
The tenth Rugby World Cup will get underway this month with the world’s top twenty nations set to descend on France for the highly-anticipated tournament. Here at betting.bet we’ll preview the upcoming competition, bringing the best rugby free bets and Rugby World Cup odds from our local partners at Ladbrokes.
Rugby World Cup History
Only four nations have won the Webb Ellis Cup since the inaugural tournament held in 1987. New Zealand were the first ever World Cup winners as they edged out this year’s hosts, France at Eden Park.
South Africa are the reigning world champions having won in 2019. That success saw the Springboks equal New Zealand’s all-time record of three World Cup triumphs whilst Australia (twice) and England are the only other previous Rugby World Cup winners.
Who Are the Favourites?
Highlighting just how wide-open this year’s tournament is, we currently have three co-favourites at the head of the market. New Zealand are always amongst the favourites when the World Cup comes around and this year is no exception. The All Blacks retained their Rugby Championship title in July having won three from three against their southern hemisphere rivals. However, they head to France on the back of a comprehensive 35-7 loss against South Africa at Twickenham last month.
The Springboks have put in some dominant displays over the last month or so. Prior to their rout of New Zealand, South Africa recorded impressive wins against Wales (52-16) and twice against Argentina (24-13 and 22-21).
The third side sharing favouritism ahead of the tournament are hosts, France. Les Bleus’ recent form against the southern hemisphere’s ‘big four’ is a major positive ahead of their home World Cup. France have won seven successive matches against the big four, a sequence stretching back almost seven years. During that unprecedented winning streak, France have defeated all four (New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina) at least once. France’s most recent fixture was a stunning 41-17 demolition of Australia just one week ago.
Dark Horses
It’s incredible to think that the side crowned Six Nations Grand Slam champions less than six months ago could be labelled as dark horses but Ireland are currently fourth in the outright betting. Ireland find themselves in the ‘pool of death’ having been drawn alongside world champions, South Africa and a resurgent Scotland as well as Tonga and Romania.
The draw for the pool stage has thrown up some fascinating ties, none more so than the competition’s curtain raiser between France and New Zealand. However, with the five highest ranked sides in the world all drawn in Pool A or B, there is a clear path for one of the less-fancied nations from Pools C and D to go deep into the competition.
The leading quartet in the second half of the draw are Australia and Wales from Pool C and England and Argentina from Pool D. England have won just one in six and lost 30-22 against Fiji in their final warm-up game whilst Wales have won only four in seventeen since the start of 2022. Australia have not fared much better and head to France on the back of five consecutive losses. Therefore, Argentina look best-placed to claim a place in next month’s Rugby World Cup final and are astonishing value at 7/1 to do so.
Pool Stage Draw
| POOL | TEAMS |
|---|---|
| POOL A | New Zealand, France, Italy, Uruguay, Namibia |
| POOL B | South Africa, Ireland, Scotland, Tonga, Romania |
| POOL C | Wales, Australia, Fiji, Georgia, Portugal |
| POOL D | England, Japan, Argentina, Samoa, Chile |
Rugby World Cup Odds
- 3/1: France, New Zealand, South Africa
- 9/2: Ireland
- 12/1: Australia
- 16/1: England
- 25/1: Argentina
- 40/1: Scotland, Wales
- 80/1: Fiji
- 100/1: Samoa
- 500/1: Italy, Japan
- 1000/1: Chile, Georgia, Namibia, Portugal, Romania, Tonga, Uruguay
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