rugby union

Well the press have been on the backs of England in New Zealand, as Martin Johnsons men have not only been bungee jumping but enjoying a night on the town as well. Not the greatest press which could have come England’s way, as they are already one of the most unpopular teams in New Zealand for the 2011 RWC World Cup. They upset the host nation by unveiling a reserve kit of all black for the World Cup, and critics of England will be lapping things up. Especially after their dire start to the World Cup against Argentina, in which they were lucky to come away with a win. World Cup hero Jonny Wilkinson struggled with his kicking, but fortunately so did Argentina. It was a one dimensional performance from England, which was completely lacking any energy, any game plan or desire out on the pitch. There was no mobility up front and sideways running was pretty much the order of the day when they did get the ball in their hands. But a win is a win, even though they didn’t pick up a bonus point and now need to get things back on track. It’s not all doom and gloom though, as England started the last World Cup poorly (remember the thrashing by South Africa in the pool match to nil?) but still made it to the final. But the most disappointing part of the performance was that England fans know their side can play better. They have seen them  do it, and with more of an attacking prowess about the side in the Six Nations and the warm up matches, it all disappeared as they ground out a win against the equalling unadventurous, but more passionate Pumas. That was, arguably, England’s toughest group match, although they still have to face Scotland.

So England v Georgia rugby world cup betting should not produce anything other than an England win. Our doubts over England’s ability to win the 2011 World Cup were focused on whether or not they are ruthless and clinical enough to beat tough opposition. We want to see a positive England, one which knows how to pick the right running lines and scythe their way through defences. Fortunately this should be the opportunity where they can cut lose. They have only ever played Georgia once before, and that was back in the 2003 Rugby World Cup, when England ran out impressive 84-6 winners. We can emphasise that England need to win to push on for top spot in the group, which is currently occupied by the Scots after beating Georgia 15-6 in their second match, but that’s stating the obvious. We need England to win every match, convincingly at this stage. Martin Johnson’s men have had a longer break than Georgia ahead of this match, and hopefully we’ll see the power show that England are capable off. Following this match, England take on Romania, so there is a great chance to build some momentum ahead of their big clash against Scotland on October 1st. This is not going to be anything other than a win for England, the bigger the better for the manager, the squad and the fans alike.

England v Georgia Rugby World Cup betting odds
England to win: 1/150 at SportingBet
Draw: 66/1 at Bet365
Georgia to win: 50/1 at Paddy Power

Handicap: England -37 for Evens at Bet365

Wales will come up against the power of Samoa in their second 2011 Rugby World Cup match on September 18th, as the Welsh look for their first win. Wales came out of their first match, the big Pool D clash against South Africa, licking their wounds after a narrow victory. All Wales had to show for their efforts was a bonus point in the 17-16 defeat in which they gave the defending Champions a run for their money. Wales are starting to look as if they are piecing together a very good side for the future. They are not there just yet, but after their showing against South Africa, they surely have to be instilled with even more confidence. They were confident enough to throw the ball around against South Africa, who started to show their aging legs a bit. This was a South Africa side who had just beaten the All Blacks in the Tri Nations, and are out to defend their World Cup title. But it was a cruel blow in the end for Wales, who stood toe to toe with the powerful South Africans and actually forged out a decent game plan. They will have to try and contend with more power on Sunday, as the big Samoa side will be ready with their strong running and hitting. Samoa are actually quite a threat to Wales here in Pool D, and with the Samoans running up a big win over Namibia to get their 2011 Rugby World Cup started, this is expected to be a close match. If Pool D pans out as expected now with South Africa winning the group, the Wales v Samoa clash could be the big crunch one for second place and a spot in the quarter finals. So this is a match which Wales need to win, but will have bad memories of facing Samoa in the World Cup, losing to them in both the 1991 and 1999 editions of the premier Rugby Union tournament in the world.

Samoa are big and powerful and should make a big impact in the scrum. That is where Wales really, really need to step things up and keep their composure. They can’t afford to cheaply lose ball to Samoa in that area, they have to make the Southern Hemisphere side work for all they can get. Because Samoa are a physical side, they may not have the big pace, but they do run well and have power in smashing through the line. Samoa beat Australia earlier in the year (though the Wallabies didn’t send out a full strength team) and will naturally be targeting Wales as their crunch match as well. If Samoa win this, then Wales could be a in a bit of difficulty, although Samoa will still have to play South Africa. Because this is expected to be quite close, there is not going to be great margins in your handicap betting to look at, and so we need to look at the head to head situation. The two nations have met seven times before, with Wales winning four and Samoa winning three. Tight there, but Wales have won the last two encounters, the most recent a 17-13 win in November of 2009. A 50-6 Welsh win in 2000 ended a losing streak of three matches against the Samoans. The average points difference between the two sides when they meet is 7 points in Wales’ favour. Wales average 25 points per game against Samoa and Samoa average 18 points against Wales. So Samoa have caused Wales some grief before on the big stage, and is there more to come? For our Wales v Samoa Rugby World Cup betting tip, we are going to lean in the favour of Wales for a narrow margin.

Wales v Samoa Rugby World Cup Betting Odds
Wales to win: 4/11 at SportingBet
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365
Samoa to win: 3/1 at Paddy Power

Handicap: Wales -8 Evens at Bet365

With the 2011 Rugby World Cup betting right on our doorstep (see full guide here) and (alternative betting markets here) there is an aspect of Rugby Betting we wanted to explore further. It is an important one,  because it is one which will help you the punter, to pick up a bit of extra profit. In the four groups at the World Cup, there are two teams in each which you can look at and almost safely predict will be in the quarter finals. Be it New Zealand and France from the Pool A, or Australia and Ireland from Pool C. The thing about the group stages in the Rugby World Cup, is that there are going to be matches where there are just going to be overwhelming favourites, which is just going to wipe out your outright betting market. Take the opener of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, New Zealand v Tonga. The two have only faced each other three times, but tournament favourites New Zealand are expected to run riot against the minnows. Put it this way. In those three matches, New Zealand have scored 238 points to Tonga’s 15 in reply, with the biggest score being a 102-0 victory in 2000. Rugby betting is not like football, where you can picture an underdog getting away with scoring from just one chance in a match and then hanging on to a clean sheet. It doesn’t quite work that way in rugby betting, because teams can rarely get away with just one score in a match and coming out victorious. It’s not like West Brom going to Old Trafford, scoring from one shot in the match and then parking a bus in front of their own goal for the rest of the match. For starters, Tonga will struggle to get points on the board, and their most likely route is through kicking penalties, which can only be done if they sustain pressure in the New Zealand half and make the All Blacks make mistakes. Tries are really needed, because there has been so few accounts in Rugby World Cup history where the teaming scoring fewer tries have won a match, that is not really even worth considering taking a massive underdog. So, while New Zealand are outrageous favourites to win this opening match (we are talking 1/2000 odds at Bet365 here) there is no value in betting on them. Conversely, seeing a side out at 100/1 with Bet365 to win a two horse race, it is not worth betting on Tonga either. So what to do? Is it worth your time even looking at rugby betting for these kinds of matches? There will be better value in matches like Argentina v Scotland and South Africa v Wales of course, so what to do about these heavily one sided matches?

Clearly Tonga is not going to win this match. But, this is where the beauty of rugby handicap betting comes in to play, and is a more common theme in the sport than in football betting, where odds are never usually so far apart. You’ve probably heard of handicap betting, but even if you have never dabbled in it, it is worth looking at a few pointers so that it can open some alternative betting doors for you during the seven weeks of top international rugby betting which we will get to enjoy. Now we can’t impress enough the need to look at past stats when weighing up handicap betting options for the rugby world cup. They will tell a very important tale. Use stats as much as you can, ones like winning margin, greatest ever winning points difference in a match, and one you should definitely look at, is average points scored per match against a specific opponent. This will help you out a lot. Also look at how prolific the team has been in their last three results against all opposition, and this will help you make some good rugby handicap betting decisions. Sticking with the New Zealand v Tonga match, we see that 79 points is the average haul for New Zealand against Tonga (and the average points difference between them is 74 points), so that is a great place to start in looking for a handicap bet. You are unlikely to always find a handicap being offered by a bookie which exactly matches this number, so use stats like this for ball park estimations. Looking at Bet365 we see that the main handicap being offer is -66 points for New Zealand (or a +66 points for Tonga, whichever way you want to look at it). Now, because it is essentially the same bet (but not really, which we will explain in a bit), the price is going to be the same, in this case 10/11 at Bet365. Taking a negative handicap is usually the way to go, because it backs the favourites in the match more, in this case, you are looking at New Zealand overturning that deficit of -66 points which the handicap sets out. So, if they won 67-0, then you would be a winner! If they won 67-6 for example, you wouldn’t be a winner, because there is only a 61 points difference.

If think that New Zealand are going to win, but they just aren’t going to clear off all of those 66 points, then you take Tonga in the positive, and you will be backing them to not lose by more than the handicap. So if they lost 65-0, then you would win the bet on a Tonga positive handicap. The bottom line is, while New Zealand are going to win, and as everyone knows that, there is no profit in backing them. There is profit and value to made in rugby handicap betting though. You know the outcome, you just make a judgement call on the margin of the inevitable. When looking at an online bookmaker for handicap prices, and for this example we’ll stick with Bet365, you will be presented with one, or maybe two handicaps which are the mid range line in the market. That is why the one in our example is around Even Odds because it that threshold at which the game result is likely to play out. So, if you think something more spectacular is going to happen, then you have to go digging for alternative rugby betting handicaps.

We are going to switch to England’s opening fixture against Argentina for this one, and look at the variations on Rugby Handicaps for the match, just to show you the difference in value. England are 1/5 at Bet365 to win the match outright, again, not great value. So, the punter pictures Martin Johnson’s men winning, and they will see that the mid line is 12 points for the England v Argentina rugby handicap. For a price of 10/11 at Bet365,  you can either back England at -12, or Argentina at +12. So, off you would go and look at stats, and see the average points difference between the two nations is just 9.88 points per match. So the bookie is right on the nose for this, as twelve points is close enough to what the stats say, but too close to put in to positive odds. So, if you want to find positive odds, and you think, well, England are going to win by a bigger margin than a converted try and a couple of penalties, then you go digging again for alternative handicaps. Here is where the swing is in rugby handicap betting. We are going to build on that margin of 12 that the bookie set, so we add three points for another penalty on that, giving us a 15 point margin (and still that is within touch of the average stats of 9.88 with just a converted try or a couple of penalties on top, so feasible) and will fetch 11/10 at Bet365. Suddenly, for a small points shift we are in the positive. You can push it just a little further, taking a -15.5 on England (a half point negates the possibility of a handicap draw) which fetches 6/5 with the bookie. Basically there is huge potential to play around with here in rugby handicap betting, so look thoroughly at your options in this valuable market.

Stay tuned to these pages for match previews and the important stats needed to guide your rugby betting for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Online bookmaker Bet365, as we have been mentioning them here, carry great depth in their handicap betting on rugby, soccer and other sports. Make sure you have full ranges like this with your bookie. If you want to get in on the great Bet365 rugby handicap betting markets, then new customers registering an account can get a free £200 bet when singing up! It has been a long time coming, but the 2011 Rugby World Cup betting is here to enjoy. Take a look at some handicap betting to enhance your chances of profit.

Format: The 2011 Rugby World Cup will be contested by twenty nations, twelve of which are there by rights after their performance at the last World Cup (where a top three group finish meant automatic qualification for this year’s event), while the other eight nations in New Zealand had to come through qualification. There are four groups of five teams set out, with the top two from each group going through to the quarter final knockout stage. The top four seeds for the draw (which took place back in 2008) are New Zealand, South Africa, Australia and Argentina which were based on the IRB World Rankings at the time. Each of those seeds were separated into different groups. Fortunately for England, who along with Wales, France and Ireland were in the group of seeds to get draw, they avoided the big three and were paired up with Argentina. France drew the short straw by landing in the group with host nation New Zealand, while Ireland pair up in Australia’s group and Wales will battle it out in South Africa’s group. Scotland, who came in the third seeding pot, landed in Argentina’s group along with England as well. So, the draw has been hovering around for some time, but now the 2011 Rugby World Cup is right on our doorstep. The final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup will be played on October 23rd in Eden Park, Auckland.

2011 Rugby World Cup Betting Outright Winner:
New Zealand: 4/6 at SportingBet
Australia: 4/1 at Victor Chandler
South Africa: 8/1 at SkyBet
France: 16/1 at Stan James
England: 18/1 at SportingBet
Wales: 80/1 at Paddy Power
Argentina: 125/1 at Bet365
Scotland: 175/1 at Victor Chandler

New Zealand Betting Preview
The All Blacks suddenly have raised a few eyebrows. For the wrong reasons. Going into the Tri Nations, they were firm favourites as always to score victory over South Africa and Australia. It all started well, but then something happened. New Zealand went to South Africa and were simply overpowered by the Springboks up front. It was a great display by South Africa, and showed some fragility in confidence in the All Blacks ranks. Normally you would expect such a world class side to bounce back, but against the odds, the Kiwis suffered a second consecutive loss, this time in Australia. The All Blacks do have the home advantage here, but are known for being big tournament chokers. How they haven’t dominated the World Cup history books is a mystery. Their key players are Richie McCaw and Dan Carter without any shadow of a doubt. They are still the team to beat, and they will get confidence boosting wins under their belt in the pool stage, making them a threat. Coach Graham Henry has picked a side with experience, but has left out Sitiveni Sivivatu, their prolific try scorer. That speaks volumes about the talent which is in their squad. Will we see a big bounce back from New Zealand, or has their confidence been hurt badly by the Tri Nations losses? New Zealand are suddenly a team under more pressure than they were ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup as host nation. Everyone expects the All Blacks, who are still the best team in the world, to deliver win after win after win. But they have picked up the label of chokers for a reason, and it has been because they fear failure so much. It is more of a mental thing than any question over their abilities. New Zealand are beatable, that is the upshot of what we have learned during the warm ups. Still, for most, actually producing a win against them is going to prove tough. Teams need to be physical and quick against New Zealand, to unsettle them from their game. South Africa simply bullied them, and Australia got right up in their faces and put more emphasis on attack than defence. The thing for New Zealand here, is using the pool matches in the right way, taking them one match at a time for team building confidence. Still will be the team to beat.
New Zealand Rugby World Cup Betting Value: Genuinely a title contender, shouldn’t be quite so short in the odds though.

Australia Betting Preview
Well the Wallabies are going to be our go-to team in Rugby World Cup betting, because when all things are weighed up, we think that they are the best outright value. Australia just won the Tri Nations, beating rivals New Zealand in the deciding match, a huge triumph for them. Australia simply pounded away until they got their break through, played without too much caution and looked a very good side. However, just as important was the overlooked fact that they also beat a full strength South Africa in Durban, something the All Blacks couldn’t do. That was a lot of craft and guile going on in that match, and Australia really had to mix it up front with the Springboks, which is not easy to do. Australia are not a complete side at the moment, they really don’t have a world class goal kicker, which may hurt them at some point in the tournament. Still, they are definitely a side which is starting to gel together the more games they get under their match, and they seem pretty adaptable and versatile. Other question marks? Perhaps the overall cohesion of the pack, but what Australia showed so well in the Tri Nations, is the ability to run from deep and create something out of nothing. It is such a naturally honed art, that it will sucker punch teams time and time again throughout the World Cup. We probably aren’t going to see the most convincing rugby being played Australia, but if they are able to maintain high intensity and simply play to their strengths, which is getting on the front foot (because they are beatable in defence through the middle). There’s very much a focus on mobility with the Australians, and it leads to some thrilling rugby. They are only going to get stronger.
Rugby World Cup Betting Value: Genuine chance, great price, top tip

South Africa Betting Preview
The Springboks pretty much sacrificed the Tri Nations for a shot at the World Cup. The defending champions sent a weak squad to face New Zealand and Australia away from home, but after suffering defeat with a full strength side to the Aussie back on home turf, they put in a barn storming performance to beat the All Blacks. This is an experienced South Africa side and they will menace a lot of teams with their sheer power. There are good threats from the back, but they are not as cohesive or solid as Australia or New Zealand at the moment. But their players should be fresher for having skipped out on Tri Nations matches, so they could pose a good threat. They are a great tournament side, and know how to expertly lock the ball in the forwards to stifle opponents out of the game. They are one of the most powerful packs and they will punish a lot of teams from set plays, especially line outs. Not a lot of people are going to give them too much of a chance of winning, but they should be in the semi finals and from then on, who knows. They have proven recently that they are able to mix it and compete with the best, and have experience in spades. The Springboks are ranked third in the world at the moment, and there should be some big games from them. The trouble about seeing them winning is pulling out two top performances against the best sides to be able to win.
Rugby World Cup Betting Value: Good price, fair representation of outside odds.

England Betting Preview
Martin Johnson’s men have genuinely played their way into contention for victory at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Are they the complete article? No, but they are side still learning a lot about each other, and with the intense drive by Martin Johnson himself on the sidelines, England look likely to be the only home nation which can actually make an impact in the tournament. England will be based in Dunedin for the tournament, and England should have a fully fit squad to pick from. They have received news that captain Lewis Moody has recovered from his knee injury and will be ready for England’s opener against Argentina on September 10th. England have had concerns over a few players during their build up but Johnson is confident that everyone will be fit and raring to go. As far as their build up for the World Cup went, only a defeat against Wales in Cardiff blighted their copy book, but England appeared to be more interested in playing rugby than taking kicks at goal for easy penalties, so don’t read too much into it. The clinical finishing of England’s backs is a bit of a question mark for them, but Tuilagi really could be the big, not so secret weapon which they can unleash. England have tried to adopt more of an open style, more of a running game, because that is the direction to where the Southern Hemisphere has taken the game. England have had to become more mobile, and they are. Up front, England have a great versatility about their forwards, and should be able to add that extra dimension. How far England go, will completely depend on their creativity in the backs, which does look a little limited. They have injections of pace with Chris Ashton, Ben Foden and Tuilagi, but will the system allow them to make those telling runs? Tries are so important at the World Cup, only on rare occasions has the team scoring the least amount of tries actually won a match in the tournament. Do England have that killer punch? Most likely semi final opponents will be Australia.
England Rugby World Cup Betting Value: Great value for finalists in past two tournaments

France Betting Preview
France have moved up to the fourth best team in the world in the IRB rankings and will pose their own unique brand of threat at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. The French forwards are an absolute delight to watch when they are on top of the game, and when it is, they are most controlled, most technically gifted and mobile forward pack coming from the northern hemisphere. That old French flair is still there, in trying to create something from half chances deep into their own territory, but one question about them is their own mentality. They can often beat themselves, and lack confidence when going behind and really having to scrap and work hard for their spoils. They have only played two warm up matches, both back to back wins against Ireland, and they look fresh enough and determined enough to cause a lot of damage to teams. In a tough group with New Zealand, but assuming they get through in second place, it could set up a clash in the quarter finals against England, and naturally the French will be relishing that one. It could be a semi final place then against Australia in what would be an open, evenly contested game. You just never know with the French, as on their day they look absolutely brilliant, and have such a physically tough midfield. It is going to be a hard road to the final, and tough moments when character is called for, isn’t something that the French do too well at.
Rugby World Cup Betting Value: Rightly around par with England at the moment, have the flair, maybe not the mentality.

Pool A
Canada, France, Japan, New Zealand, Tsonga
No great surprises as to who is expected to win this. The big crunch match in the game will come down to New Zealand v France, as that should be a shoot out for the top. You can see New Zealand scoring many more tries through the Pool matches than what France will, so the French are always going to be playing catch up. It may not be too bad of a thing as it could send them into a quarter final match with England. It could be worse. You will remember France beating New Zealand in the quarter finals of the 2007 World Cup, 20-18. They have faced each other three times since then (all in 2009), with the All Blacks winning all three. Canada will try and defend as much as they can, while we can expect plenty of sprightly running from Japan. However, the top two look pretty settled here.

Sept 9th: New Zealand v Tonga
Sept 10th: France v Japan
Sept 14th: Tonga v Canada
Sept 16th: New Zealand v Japan
Sept 18th: France v Canada
Sept 12th: Tonga v Japan
Sept 24th: New Zealand v France
Sept 27th: Canada v Japan
Oct 1st: France v Tonga
Oct 2nd: New Zealand v Canada

Group Winner Odds: New Zealand 1/8 at BetFred, France 13/2 at SportingBet

Pool B
Argentina, England, Georgia, Romania, Scotland
Argentina, who finished third in the 2007 Rugby World Cup after really learning how to prove a point to the rest of the world, but don’t look anywhere near as sharp at the moment. They look a bit confused and disjointed and England will be happy enough to play them first before the Pumas get any kind of momentum behind them. England and Argentina met three times in 2009, with two wins for England and one for Argentina. We are a long way removed from those standards though, and England have only lost four matches against the Pumas, winning eleven. England are firm favourites to win the group therefore, so the crunch match here will be Argentina v Scotland. That should be a shoot out for second place. The Scots are trying to be a much more versatile and mobile side than ever before, but it is seriously still a work in progress. The Scots though have had their moments over the past twelve months, are perceived as getting tactically better, and have a full squad to pick from. Georgia and Romania are simply going to be battling it out for the wooden spoon one would think.

Sept 10th: Scotland v Romania
Sept 10th: Argentina v England
Sept 14th: Scotland v Georgia
Sept 17th: Argentina v Romania
Sept 18th: England v Georgia
Sept 24th: England v Romania
Sept 25th: Argentina v Scotland
Sept 28th: Georgia v Romania
Oct 1st: England v Scotland
Oct 2nd: Argentina v Georgia

Group Winner Odds: England 2/5 at Boylesports, Argentina 5/1 at Bet365, Scotland 5/1 at SportingBet

Pool C
Australia, Ireland, Italy, Russia, United States
The Australians will be so happy with this draw at the moment. Drawing Ireland is usually never an easy thing, but the Wallabies will have been watching the demise of Ireland with some delight. The Irish  lost all four of their warm up matches, two against France and one against both England and Scotland. Coach Declan Kidney wanted them playing as much as they could in warm ups, but it hasn’t gone well for confidence. The Irish camp are confident that the defeats will have served their purpose in making them a better side, but they really haven’t delivered and look disjointed. Only their controlled performance against England in the Six Nations has really stood out for them. Poor running lines, poor handling and decision making is hurting the Irish at the moment. The crunch match here should be Ireland v Italy, again a scrap for second place. Italy had the Irish on the ropes in the Six Nations, but oddly showed coach Nick Mallett the door ahead of the World Cup. Still not quite up to speed with the rest of the Six Nations side, but the gap isn’t too far away and they will gunning for Ireland in their final match if all goes to plan.

Sept 11th: Australia v Italy
Sept 11th: Ireland v USA
Sept 15th: Russia v USA
Sept 17th: Australia v Ireland
Sept 20th: Italy v Russia
Sept 23rd: Australia v USA
Sept 25th: Ireland v Russia
Sept 27th: Italy v USA
Oct 1st: Australia v Russia
Oct 2nd: Ireland v Italy

Group Winner Odds: Australia: 2/9 at Bet365, Ireland 4/1 at Boylesports

Pool D
Fiji, Namibia, Samoa, South Africa, Wales
Wales start off against South Africa and seem pretty confident of getting a victory there. Let’s just assume that they don’t and therefore the Welsh will be under pressure in the Pool from the very start. The thing is with Wales, they tend to fail against big teams when they get taken out of the comfort zone of the Millennium Stadium. Wales faced South Africa twice last year, and both ended in very narrow defeats by the Springboks, however, overall, Wales have an awful record against South Africa. Out of 25 meetings, Wales have won just once, drawn once and lost on 23 occasions. Wales are fit and will be buoyed by beating England during their warm ups, but the fact is that they still have a very rocky defence. The Pool may not look all that competitive, but there could be a massive underdog danger coming from Fiji and Samoa. The conditions will be familiar to Fiji and their running game could hurt Wales. The Welsh will have not too fond memories of Fiji, who have knocked them out of World Cups before. Remember Samoa too scored a famous victory over Australia not too long ago. So there could be some drama in this group. The opening match for Wales is so crucial, but South Africa are naturally not going to be any kind of pushovers. It is the Springboks who are favourites to win the group, and there could well be a very close chance behind them for second place.

Sept 10th: Fiji v Namibia
Sept 11th: South Africa v Wales
Sept 14th: Samoa v Namibia
Sept 17th: South Africa v Fiji
Sept 18th: Wales v Samoa
Sept 22nd: South Africa v Namibia
Sept 25th: Fiji v Samoa
Sept 26th: Wales v Namibia
Sept 30th: South Africa v Samoa
Oct 2nd: Wales v Fiji

Group Winner Odds: South Africa 2/9 at Bet365, Wales 5/1 at Boylesports, Samoa 20/1 at SkyBet

Online bookmaker Unibet are running a 2011 Rugby World Cup betting promotion. If England win the 2011 Rugby World Cup, then the bookie will generously refund all losing outright bets. So, therefore, if Martin Johnson’s men repeats the heroics of 2003 and lifts the World Cup, then Unibet will refund all losing outright bets. So this is just a little bit of coverage to take into rugby betting with you. The highly popular bookmaker, which runs a great live in play betting service, offers new customers a £20 no risk first bet. Simply open an account and deposit a minimum of £20, and you’ll get insurance on your first Unibet bet, up to the value of £20. That means you can’t lose with your first bet at Unibet! Check out the bookie for your 2011 Rugby World Cup betting.

Popular online bookmaker Victor Chandler are warming up for the 2011 Rugby World Cup with a betting promotion for punters to get their teeth in to. Much has been made of the progress that England have made over the past twelve months or so, under the guidance of former World Cup winner Martin Johnson. England finally look a genuine threat to push deep into the competition, and who knows, win it. They have reached the final of the last two renewals, and is there better fortunes on the near rugby horizon for last year’s losing finalists? Well, take an outright winner bet on the 2011 Rugby World Cup, and if England lift the trophy, then the bookie will refund all lost bets placed on that market. So Victor Chandler will not be wanting to see England captain Lewis Moody lift the trophy at the conclusion of the final on October 23rd, because if that happens, they will be paying out of a lot of refunds. New Zealand remain the are the tournament favourites at a price of 8/15, while Tri Nations winners Australia look as if they are going to be a bigger threat than first thought at a price of 4/1. South Africa are back at 8/1, followed by France at 16/1 so there are great value options if you don’t think that England are going to win and don’t want to back them. Victor Chandler offer a free £25 bet for new customers registering an account with them. They will match the value of your first bet on a new account, up to the value of £25, giving you some nice cash to help get started.

Well, when taking a look at 2011 Rugby World Cup betting, you are basically going to be eyeing up the chances of five teams, and even that will be narrowed down a bit. New Zealand, the host nation for this year’s event are of course favourites, while Tri Nations winners Australia are also being hotly tipped after their successes recently. The big powerful South Africans, who are the defending champions of course are also going to be a force to be reckoned with. England and France represent the best options from the northern hemisphere and it is unlikely that a winner is going to come from outside of those five main teams. So, if you think New Zealand are going to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup, then naturally, because they are favourites and on their home turf, you are not going to find great prices on them. While better prices surround England and France, it is representative of their realistic chances, so you could come up empty handed. So, for your 2011 Rugby World Cup betting, it may be worth exploring some alternative avenues. First of all, let us look at the outright betting market and offer a tip. New Zealand are favourites at 4/6 with SportingBet, but because of those recent wobbles, we think that they should be longer odds. So that leaves Australia as our top tip at a price of 4/1 with Victor Chandler in Outright Betting. They have the potential and are really coming to the boil at the right time, and will get better still when players return from injury. At this point, there are questions over South Africa, France and England, the main challengers, so Australia make the best option here we feel for your 2011 Rugby World Cup betting.

Top Six Nations Team and Top Six Nations TryScorer Betting
First of all, lets look at the Six Nations sides at the 2011 Rugby World Cup. You can have a punt on who you think the Top Six Nations team will be, and there will be a little bit of value in this, as you are basically taking a pick between France 13/8 at Victor Chandler and England 7/4 at Paddy Power. What makes this more interesting, is that the two nations will likely meet at the Quarter Final stage, so you can take your pick for some decent little income. Continuing to explore Rugby World Cup betting options on Six Nations teams, you can also take a wager on who the Top Tryscorer from the Six Nations will be (and check out online bookmaker Boylesports for a promotion on Tryscorer markets at the 2011 Rugby World Cup). England’s swan diving winger Chris Ashton starts as favourite in this market at a price of 6/1 at Boylesports, while Ireland’s Tommy Bowe is nicely priced at 8/1 at Boylesports behind him. The lively Shane Williams is back at 9/1 at Boylesports and ask yourself if you think England’s new dynamic centre Tuilagi is ready to make a major impact at 20/1 with Boylesports. Have a punt on this market at Boylesports, and if your bet loses but New Zealand fail to make it to the final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, then the bookie will pay out refunds on this market, as well as Top Tournament Tryscorer as well. England’s Chris Ashton is favourite at 9/4 with BetFred to be England’s Top Try Scorer.

Six Nations Teams in Quarter Finals
How many Six Nations teams do you think will be in the quarter finals of the World Cup? Out of the four groups, the top two teams will progress through to the knockouts. Now, there is a bit of decision making here. Let’s look at the Pools to figure this one out.
Pool A: France should follow New Zealand through from Pool A, so that’s one.
Pool B: England should win Pool B, so that’s two. But Scotland could squeeze through but will have a challenge from Argentina. However, let’s back the Scots as the Puma’s are looking disjointed. Three.
Pool C: There are two Six Nations sides here, Italy and Ireland. Only one of them will follow Australia through though. Four.
Pool D: Wales are the only Six Nations side in this group, but could face stiff opposition from Samoa.
Oddly enough, Exactly 4 is the favourite market option at Paddy Power for a price of 4/6, but we want value. That’s because it covers the bases a bit, because of uncertainty over Scotland and Wales. So if you back Wales and Scotland to come through, then you take Exactly 5 for 21/10 at Paddy Power. However, if you want to push the boat out, and risk Wales failing to qualify (and this is one of the hottest trending bets on 2011 Rugby World Cup Betting at the moment), along with Scotland to miss out, taking Exactly 3 fetches a very handsome 4/1 at Paddy Power. Interesting market.

Top Tri Nations Team
Tri Nations teams betting are worth considering as well. No great surprise that New Zealand are 4/9 favourites at Paddy Power in the Top Tri Nations team betting for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. But remember Australia just beat them in the final match of the Tri Nations to take the title. The Wallabies are priced at 3/1 with Victor Chandler as Top Tri Nations team, and that would be backing another big choke from New Zealand in the World Cup. Good value on it though as Australia are only getting better and better. Do we see any surprises with the Tri Nations teams not making it to the Quarter Finals? No. There is no value in this market, other than taking Exactly 2 teams to qualify, and the most likely scenario of that happening would be Wales beating South Africa in their Pool opener, and then the Springboks totally crumbling. Don’t see it happening at all though. So avoid.

Stage of Elimination Betting
This is always a fun market to look at, so let us look at a few teams and pick out some value. Favourites New Zealand are 4/1 at Bet365 to crash out in the Semi Final and put up another choke show. There is a lot of pressure on them, they have a track record of blowing it as the pressure of the World Cup mounts. There is a huge amount of expectancy on them, tough match would be a semi final against South Africa (remember the Springboks just crushed New Zealand in the Tri Nations). South Africa are trading positive to go out at the semi final stage for 11/10 at Bet365. That is extremely viable and hey, it would be small profit in 2011 Rugby World Cup betting. What about England? Well the favourite market option here is 11/8 at Stan James for a quarter final exit (which is likely to be against France). England can beat them, so taking a Semi Final Stage of Elimination bet on England for 11/4 at Boylesports makes a decent shot at value (as they would likely bump into Australia there). That leaves a look at 2011 Tri Nations champions Australia themselves. We really feel that they should be your top 2011 Rugby World Cup betting tip, so take a long look at them as Runners Up for 15/8 at Bet365 in Australia Stage of Elimination betting. Decent value there, or a semi price on an exit for them is 11/5 at Boylesports. Just to go back and touch on something from above, Wales are trending at 9/2 with Victor Chandler to get eliminated at the Group Stage, which is decent value and well worth a little flutter we feel.

Victor Chandler are running a 2011 Rugby World Cup betting promotion to enjoy. If England win the World Cup this year, then the highly rated bookie will pay out refunds on all losing bets on the outright winner market. These lost stakes will come back as a free bet, so if you are looking at the market right now, it will be worth taking this little bit of insurance with them, just in case Martin Johnson can lead his nation to victory. Victor Chandler will be hoping that he won’t. New customers to Victor Chandler can get a free £25 bet when opening a new account with the popular bookie. Victor Chandler will match your first bet on a new account up to the value of £25! So check out Victor Chandler for your 2011 Rugby World Cup betting and take advantage of their promotion.

Scotland v Italy rugby betting is the order of the day north of the border, as coach Andy Robinson looks to build on the positives that his side took in beating Ireland. Scotland opened their 2011 Rugby World Cup warm up account with a narrow win over the Irish at Murrayfield, but it was a game in which there was little inspiration from either side. It really was more of a practice season than a fully fledged test match, a scrappy and thoroughly uneventful affair. There have been a lot of positives vibes around Scottish rugby as they have put on some good performances this year. You’ll remember back to their trip to Paris in the Six Nations, and the stubbornness they showed against England at Twickenham. Robinson is to make fourteen changes from the side which started against the Irish two weeks ago, and this is a chance to look a more players as this is their final warm up match. Defence is very much on the fore of the mind in Scottish rugby and they did manage to keep the Irish out, but they definitely need to find more potency going forward if they are going to show well at the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand. They did squeeze in a try right at the death against the Irish, but the thing with the Scots is that they rarely look totally threatening. We’re not expecting a fully expansive Scotland by any stretch of the imagination, and Robinson at least has them improving their all round standards. It means that Italy will be a good test for them here ahead of the World Cup, and the Scots will be confident after beating Italy 21-8 in the Six Nations earlier in the year. But then again, by the same measure, Italy are improving too, and they will try and put on a good show for themselves. It can be argued that Italy are probably the better of the two nations in the pack and it may be to their advantage to grind the Scots down in that area. Italy definitely have better scrummaging technique than the Scottish pack on evidence of the Six Nations. Italy are not afraid to throw the ball around when the time comes as well and really push teams hard in the Six Nations last year. But Scotland have a win against Ireland under their belt, and Italy could be caught a little cold away from home. Italy have posed Scotland plenty of problems before in meetings, but we have to take a look at home advantage here being worth an extra few points. Don’t think there is going to be a great margin in points if you are going to take a look at Scotland v Italy rugby handicap betting, so it could be close. However, we’ll take the Scots just to edge it, their experience in front of the Murrayfield crowd should just take it.

Scotland v Italy Rugby Betting
Scotland to win: 1/3 at SkyBet
Draw: 22/1 at Bet365
Italy to win: 3/1 at Totesport

Scotland v Italy Rugby Betting Tip: Under 28 points for 2/1 at Paddy Power
 

Ireland get back to their 2011 Rugby World Cup preparations, looking to get over a defeat suffered at the hands of Scotland at Murrayfield last weekend. It was a bit of a dire affair, with both sides looking as if they were going through training ground motions as opposed to putting too much effort or emphasis on the match at hand. It is understandable, there were a lot of fringe players on show, players were looking for match sharpness, players were not wanting to get injured and there was not anything at stake. It was an exercise to get players into the feel of the game again and see what needs to be worked out on the training ground proper. So Ireland, although defeated and not playing anywhere near the best this year, move on to face France in what will be a much tougher test than facing the Scottish, for different reasons. Ireland knew that the game against Scotland was going to be a close, scrappy, workmanlike affair, while against the French, they can expect more of an open game. Ireland coach Declan Kidney has made eight changes from the starting fifteen which faced Scotland, with the desire to have a good look at more players in the squad ahead of naming his 30 man party to head to New Zealand with. Kidney also assured players that he would rotate the side through the 2011 Rugby World Cup warm up matches, which he is doing. Kidney has kept Rob Kearney, Andrew Trimble and Paddy Wallace in the backs, while they will be fed on Saturday by Conor Murray, a very promising youngster from Munster. Centring the midfield will be Paddy Wallace and Keith Earls, with Ronan O’Gara and Eoin Redden tightening things up as half backs. There is still no run out for Brian O’Driscoll. Into the side come the experience of Paul O’Connell and Jamie Heaslip as well. This match for Ireland will be all about Ireland feeling their way against the French, ahead of a return fixture back in Ireland next week.

The Irish will have had their confidence knocked after being defeat by Scotland, so they will certainly want to step up their level of play. There are still a good crop of players missing from the line up who will probably be making the starting fifteen at the 2011 Rugby World Cup, but this is a good chance again for Declan to see where the strength of his depth is at. France coach Marc Lievremont has put Raphael Lakafia in to the starting line up for the first time. The forward sensation from Biarritz has attracted all the big talk in French rugby at the moment, and there will be a lot of interest in what he can do at international level. Lievremont has gone for a pretty good looking balance of experience and inexperience in his setup, something he set out to do ahead of the two fixtures against the Irish. While the Irish played their first game after the Six Nations last week against Scotland, for France, this is the first time they will play competitively since they finished their Six Nations campaign. France have a lot of attacking firepower from their back line. As displayed in the Six Nations this year, they are hit and miss in the forwards. Sometimes the exert long periods of sustained control and other times they cannot seem to put a foot right, and with the Irish struggling for form and consistency, this match could be up in the air. We should see the ball thrown around a lot more than at Murrayfield last week though, with the French taking the initiative in attack.

France v Ireland Rugby Betting Odds
France to win: 1/4 at Unibet
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365
Ireland to win: 9/2 at Paddy Power

France v Ireland betting tip: Would take the French to win. They are a more mobile side, and their control in the scrum, if it is up to match speed, is better than what Ireland can deliver. But Ireland would be more comfortable having the ball there, but we are likely to see France stretch the game, and would back them to win the match.

England v Wales rugby betting is on the cards for Saturday at Twickenham, as the two nations start their serious preparations for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. England will be the favourites to win this competitive international, as they look to be a fierce force at the tournament in New Zealand later in the year. Now England boss Martin Johnson will look for his side to deliver an impressive series of matches to get ready for the World Cup challenge ahead. England are still developing their side and their squad, so the big question is, are they ready? They won the Six Nations, which was a joyful return to success for the Twickenham faithful, but there was still the huge disappointment of the defeat against Ireland which stopped them winning the Grand Slam. Defeats are often the best tools from learning, and England need to find a way to move on from that. That was a disappointment, just as was the defeat in the 2007 World Cup final to South Africa. Four years on, England are arguably better than then, and there is a great versatility about the squad at the moment, and with Johnson finally putting some faith in younger players, they look ready for the challenge. What they will produce on the pitch of course, under pressure, is another matter. They blew it against Ireland, and therefore they need to still develop a ruthless cutting edge which maybe is missing. But at the same time, they came through some good challenges in the Six Nations, beating Wales in a tricky opener down at the Millennium Stadium, and beating a strong France side at Twickenham.

For the large part of the 2011 RBS Six nations, England did very well, put a lot of things together right, but at times they showed inexperience and it could be the thing which stops them winning the World Cup. So England v Wales rugby betting on Saturday is going to be a good indicator of England’s mentality. Granted there is nothing riding on this match other than getting themselves into shape and for Johnson to get a good look at his starting fifteen, but the squad is just as important as those charged with starting the match. England will go full tilt at Wales on Saturday, they have to, because anything less than that will prove nothing to Johnson. The players in the squad are still fighting for players and have to prove to the boss that they are worthy of starting in the Rugby World Cup. There is a more adventurous and attacking feel about England at the moment, and it has certainly been a long time coming. England ran in twelve tries in their five Six Nations matches, and try scoring has been a problem for England for a couple of years now. They need to continue momentum by putting the Welsh to the sword at Twickenham, before going back to Cardiff for a rematch the following week. England have been boosted by the return of captain Lewis Moody, who is fit again after getting injured in the Six Nations. The newly wed Mike Tindall stepped in as captain then, and there is the perfect example of England’s spattering of steady experience in the side to complement youth.

England start their World Cup campaign on September 10th against Argentina, but preparations and style of play cannot be compared to any of the previous two World Cups. Heading into their World Cup group, England are strong favourites to come out on top, as they are pooled with Georgia, Romania and Scotland, along with Argentina. The question this time around is how well England can get over the disappointments they have suffered since losing the last World Cup final in 2007. England have cut out Joe Worsley for their training squad, making him highly unlikely to make the World Cup. England also cut George Chuter, Thomas Waldrom, David Strettle and James Simpson-Daniel from the squad. That has left big opportunities for the likes of Charlie Sharples and Manu Tuilagi, who are bursts of youthful talent, but their lack of experience could keep them on the fringes. But England do have potentially clinical finishing with the likes of Tuilagi and Chris Ashton who made such a big impact in the Six Nations. England do have a great blend of experience and youth, but they are definitely leaning on building a youthful outlook, not only for this World Cup but beyond. Two good performances against Wales will justify England’s price to win the World Cup, which has shortened a little. As for the immediate options in England v Wales Rugby betting, the home side should be well worth backing strongly. They performed strongly in a 26-19 Six Nations opener in February away from home, so England should be able to exploit and turn on the jets back at Twickenham.

As for Wales, they will head to Twickenham without their Captain Matthew Rees. Wales are on the opposite scale to England, in that coach Warren Gatland seems to be unsure of what his best side is, and is not sure who to put in and where. England’s Martin Johnson has far more options to accentuate a starting backbone without breaking shape or game plan. Wales have been out in Poland trying to get conditioned physically, ready for the World Cup. There is a fragility of Wales, which showed up when they barely managed to beat Italy at the Six Nations, somehow managing to avoid defeat against Ireland before getting trounced by France. Most of Wales’ problems are in the defence and organisation. You can always expect exciting running, but there has not been too much evidence of a well though out game plan. England should be able to dominate in the scrum, as England have certainly developed a great mobility in their forwards. They are not perfect and they can be disrupted, but over the course of eighty minutes at Twickenham, you really have to back an England win. They should be able to set up a strong platform with their forwards, before throwing it around and opening the game up in the second half. The more open Wales try to play the match, they will get punished by the England backs.

England v Wales Rugby Betting
England to win: 2/9 at Totesport
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365
Wales to win: 9/2 at SportingBet

England v Wales Head to Head
There have been 120 meetings between the two nations, with things pretty tight in the overall head to head stats. England have won 55 of the meetings, with Wales winning 53. There have been twelve drawn matches between them. The largest win for England was a 62-5 margin and England do have the advantage in average points per match when the two nations meet. England average 12.97 points per match against Wales, while the Welsh average 11.21 points per game against England. The last encounter between them was in the 2011 Six Nations with England winning 26-19 at the Millennium Stadium.

England are 12/1 at Paddy Power to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup
Wales are 80/1 at Victor Chandler to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup
 

One of the most highly anticipated rugby union clashes is back on the fixture list, as New Zealand v Australia takes centre stage in the Tri Nations. These two heavyweights usually produce some thrilling matches between them, and there is no bigger rivalry in international rugby. The Tri Nations teams are getting some valuable competitive preparations ahead of the 2011 Rugby World Cup, which is held in New Zealand at the start of September, so these are important matches. While the European nations are playing friendly matches as their preparations, there is nothing quite like the cut and thrust of a competitive New Zealand v Australia match to whet your betting whistle. Both nations got off to winning starts against a weakened South Africa side, and so this will be a big battle for supremacy at the top of the Tri Nations table. Only one of these two teams are going to win the title this year, and with New Zealand’s dominance in the game, the tournament and the betting to win the 2011 World Cup, you would expect them to take this match on home turf. The All Blacks, although disgruntled by England’s choice of an all black second kit for the World Cup, are the team to beat, and after running out comfortable winners against the Springboks, this is the big clash which they want to win, for pride, and to give them leverage in the 2011 Tri Nations. They key men for the All Blacks, Richie McCaw and Dan Carter need to be both big participants after injury worries, and the Kiwis really need them if they are going to go all the way at the World Cup. This is the first big clash, the first big battle that they will have faced since touring the UK successfully at the back end of last year. They superbly found the gaps against South Africa in their opening Tri Nations fixture, whether it was pressing for the line, or from deep within their own half. They are the epitome of running power and adventure, so teams really will need a cohesive, concentrated defence if they plan to stop the All Blacks, especially on their own turf.

Australia, in their opening day fixture against South Africa, Australia showed some great skill in running from deep. They are a young side, a work in progress, but they have a lot of positives about them, and if they string some strong results together, will be a threat at the 2011 World Cup. Don’t write off the Wallabies yet, as they have a lot to offer. It is hard to judge how strong they are, because South Africa really aren’t at the races in the Tri Nations, so this will be the first real big test of their competitiveness and readiness to challenge for world glory. Their scrum, which is often the weak point in defence, stood up well against South Africa, but it was the ball movement, the running into space and counter attacking threat from their own half which really stood out for the Aussies. The big question here, is whether or not Australia have the strength in defence to keep the Kiwis at bay. Australia arguably have the weaker of the two defences, but pose just as much threat as their counterparts when it comes to counter attacking. The game will be won and lost in the lose, and whoever can capitalise on space will win the day. The backs are pretty evenly matched going forward, but the Aussies, with their backs against the wall, are a bit more naïve, a bit more unsure of themselves compared to the All Blacks. The Aussies did get one over on their old rivals last year after being crushed in the Tri Nations series, so that will have given the Green and Gold a glimmer of hope that they can scrap for something.

Realistically though, your New Zealand v Australia Tri Nations betting will be better off staying in the home sides court. The All Blacks have just that little bit more cohesion in their game, and that won’t want any hiccups in their World Cup preparations. They looked to be on song against South Africa, so they will eagerly want to build upon that. They have class at their disposal and better options off the bench than Australia, so over the eighty minutes, you would expect them to finish a couple more chances than the Aussies. It should be a tight game, because we like where the Australian game is heading at the moment, and there is a lot to enjoy from them. Tactically they may have to find a way to shut up shop just a little bit better, as they don’t want to be playing catch up too much to the Aussies. They are in with a good chance of staying within a good twelve points of the Kiwis here, and handicap betting is probably the best way to go here for value.

New Zealand v Australia Tri Nations Betting
New Zealand to win: 3/10 at SportingBet
Draw: 25/1 at Bet365
Australia to win: 10/13 at Totesport

New Zealand are 1/3 favourites at Victor Chandler to win the 2011 Tri Nations
Australia are 3/1 at Stan James to win the 2011 Tri Nations

New Zealand are 8/11 favourites at SkyBet to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup
Australia are 4/1 at Bet365 to win the 2011 Rugby World Cup

New Zealand v Australia Rugby Betting Tip:
This could be a closer scrap than many people may be anticipating. There is a lot to enjoy about the Aussies who are still working out the kinks, but if they get it together, they could give the All Blacks a run for their money. Australia +10 point handicap – Evens at Bet365