It’s back to a full complement of teams this year as the Rugby Championship Betting Odds come into focus.
After missing last year’s Championship, South Africa are back in the fold, joining New Zealand, Australia and Argentina in the competition.
New Zealand, who have won four of the last five editions, are the favourites to claim the title once again.
We look at what is to come in this Rugby Championship betting odds feature.
Rugby Championship betting Odds 2021
New Zealand 2/5
South Africa 11/5
Australia 20/1
Argentina 25/1
*(odds recorded at 00:06 GMT on August 17th, 2021 at Coral)
When and where is the Rugby Championship?
This is the southern hemisphere’s major rugby union competition, formerly known as the Tri-Nations.
For the 2012 edition, Argentina were granted a slot, expanding the tournament to four teams, and that’s when the name change to The Rugby Championship happened.
For 2021 there are still some travel restrictions around. South Africa’s first two matches, which are against Argentina, are both being played in South Africa.
All of the other games are then spread across New Zealand and Australia.
Tournament format
It’s a straightforward table format for the Rugby Championship. All teams play each other twice, for a total of six matches each.
Among the new rules being introduced for the 2021 Rugby Championship is the 50:22 law.
That’s where if a team kicks the ball and it bounces into touch in the opposition 22, then the attacking team will receive a line-out.
There will also be a 20-minute red card rule in play.
As usual, there are four points for a match win, with a bonus point to be earned for scoring at least three or more tries than their opponents in a match.
A losing bonus point will go to a team that are defeated by no more than a 7-point margin.
Rugby Championship Winners 2012-present
-
- 2012 New Zealand
- 2013 New Zealand
- 2014 New Zealand
- 2015 Australia
- 2016 New Zealand
- 2017 New Zealand
- 2018 New Zealand
- 2019 South Africa
- 2020 New Zealand*
* South Africa did not participate
New Zealand set for more success
The All Blacks have won four of the last five editions of the Rugby Championship (including 2020’s Tri-Nations affair).
Since the format of the competition changed to four teams in 2012, New Zealand have claimed the title in 7 of the 9 editions played (including 2020).
Australia grabbed the title in 2015, while South Africa took the 2019 crown. The All Blacks met Australia ahead of the first round of action.
That was the first of the 2021 Bledisloe Cup matches and they knocked over their great rivals there.
On the opening weekend of the Rugby Championship, New Zealand dealt Australia a 57-22 hammering at Eden Park. They ran in eight tries.
There’s a quote of 2/5 currently on New Zealand landing the title in Rugby Championship betting odds*(odds recorded at 00:06 GMT on August 17th, 2021 at Coral).
Can South Africa stop the All Blacks?
The return of the reigning World Champions makes this tournament fascinating.
South Africa are technically the reigning Rugby Championship champions as well having claimed the 2019 win.
That’s if you don’t count last year’s Tri-Nations tournament.
South Africa had to pull out of the 2020 Rugby Championship because of travel restrictions. But the Springboks should be fired up for their return.
They collected an exempt win in Port Elizabeth on the opening weekend of the Rugby Championship over Argentina.
The Springboks came into the tournament on the back of a 2-1 series win against the British & Irish Lions recently.
South Africa had lost the first test there but fought back superbly through powerful and pragmatic rugby to turn the series on its head.
They will be expected to beat Australia in their two matches with them. That leaves them with their two matches in the 2021 Rugby Championship against New Zealand.
Those two matches are likely to be for the title.
The final one of those is at New Zealand’s spiritual home, Eden Park where the All Blacks are undefeated for decades.
The Springboks are a quote of 11/5 to win outright in Rugby Championship betting odds*(odds recorded at 00:06 GMT on August 17th, 2021 at Coral).
2021 Rugby Championship Betting – Fixtures
Matchday One – 14th August
New Zealand v Australia
South Africa v Argentina
Matchday Two – 21st August
Argentina v South Africa
Australia v New Zealand
Matchday Three – 11th September
New Zealand v Argentina
South Africa v Australia
Matchday 4 – 18th September
Argentina v New Zealand
Australia v South Africa
Matchday 5 – September 25th
New Zealand v South Africa
Australia v Argentina
Matchday 6 – October 2nd
South Africa v New Zealand
Argentina v Australia
Can Australia bounce back?
The Wallabies look to have already had the wind knocked out of their sails. Ahead of the Rugby Championship, they had met France for a couple of warm-up Tests.
It was one win and a loss for Australia in that series.
Then after losing the Bledisloe Cup opener against the All Blacks, the start of the Rugby Championship couldn’t have gone worse.
In that 57-22 defeat against New Zealand, they conceded their record tally of points against the All Blacks in the tournament.
That’s a tough loss to bounce back from. They will meet New Zealand again on Matchday Two, with a chance to redress the balance back in Perth.
Then they deal with their two matches against South Africa back-to-back before finishing with the softer fixtures against Argentina.
Australia are a quote of 20/1 to pull out a very unlikely Championship title*(odds recorded at 00:06 GMT on August 17th, 2021 at Coral).
Argentina for the wooden spoon
The Pumas are the big 25/1 outsiders as expected in Rugby Championship betting*(odds recorded at 00:06 GMT on August 17th, 2021 at Coral).
They have collected the wooden spoon in all but one of the previous editions of the Rugby Championship.
That one exception was in 2015 when they sprung a surprise on South Africa to take third place in the table at the expense of the Springboks.
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