There is little doubt that Ireland are now the dominant force in the northern hemisphere.
Joe Schmidt’s team completed the Triple Crown and Grand Slam against defending champions England at Twickenham on Saturday having already secured the Six Nations title by beating Scotland in Dublin.
Their New Zealand-born coach may eventually have designs on the All Blacks job but he’ll be working hard to plot the downfall of his home country in Japan next year in the mean time. A third Grand Slam for Ireland has not only emphasised their rapid rise to become the best team in Europe but has also underlined England’s fall from grace.
Ireland has unearthed a rare talent in Jacob Stockdale, who made history by scoring seven tries in a single Six Nations campaign. Though they play all of their home matches in Dublin, nothing brings the Irish together quite like rugby and they are now only a best 5/1 to win next year’s World Cup. They’ll need to keep Johnny Sexton fit, however, and that has been problematic during the recent Six Nations.
England are out to 8/1 to win in Japan but Eddie Jones’ squad has been hit by several injuries and they’ll be much stronger when the likes of Billy Vunipola is back up to speed. However, in losing three times, they produced their worst Six Nations performance in 30 years. They’ve become very predictable and there have been rumblings of discontent about the rigorous training methods employed by Jones.
England lost to France in Paris but are still only a best 2/5 to win Pool C at next year’s World Cup against the French, Argentina, Tonga and an as yet unknown qualifying nation. Another exit in the group stages would be a huge embarrassment for England following their experiences in 2015 and they’ll need to rediscover some sense of direction in the next 12 months.
Wales are 7/4 to top Group D with Boylesports and are no forlorn hope to topple the Aussies. Australia have shown that they don’t travel well nowadays and are not currently in the same league as the All Blacks at present and won just two of their six matches in the 2017 Four Nations. Yet they are only a best 8/1 to win the 2019 World Cup compared the 20/1 on offer for Wales with Boylesports.
The Welsh did remarkably well to finish second in the Six Nations, despite a crippling injury list, and that bodes well for the future as Warren Gatland now knows he can rely on back-up players. Scotland also played well on occasions which suggests there is more strength-in-depth in northern hemisphere rugby than thought previously, though France’s overall decline shows no real sign of slowing.
2019 Rugby World Cup Best Odds
New Zealand 13/10, Ireland 5/1, Australia and England 8/1, South Africa 14/1, Wales 20/1, France and Scotland 25/1, Argentina 40/1, Japan 300/1, Fiji and Samoa 500/1, Italy 750/1, Tonga and Georgia 1000/1, USA, Namibia, Romania, Spain, Russia, Uruguay and Canada 5000/1
