Rugby World Cup Preview – 8.15 am kick off
There is a showdown between Six Nations rivals France and Wales in the quarter-finals of the Rugby World Cup on Sunday. This should be a thrilling battle and even though the Welsh, who got the better of the French in this year’s Six Nations are strong favourites, the unpredictable French will be relishing the duel.
Wales v France odds*
 |
1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/5 | 25/1 | 12/5 |
* (betting odds taken from bet365 on October 17th, 2019 at 5:12 pm)
Rugby World Cup betting at William Hill
Table of Contents
Wales News & Form
Wales came through the pool stage with a perfect winning record. Their big clash in the first stage of this year’s World Cup was against Australia. That was one for the top spot in an otherwise comfortable group. Wales came out strongly in the fixture and did enough defensively to shut down the second-half comeback from the Wallabies. How they took their chances in racking up the points, and how they defended resolutely under pressure will have pleased head coach Warren Gatland in equal measures.
Wales are at full strength for this fixture and have Dan Biggar back in the line up despite his head injury problems at this tournament. Wales have won seven of their last eight games against the French, including as mentioned, in this year’s Six Nations meeting which was in Paris. That was a stunning comeback after Wales had been 16-0 down at halftime. However, just one of the seven wins in that sequence by Wales was by a margin of more than 10 points. So this will probably be close.
France News & Form
France came through their pool stage unscathed although, as expected, their performances were up and down. They just about scraped past Argentina and Tonga (both 23-21 victories) while they were at their scintillating best against the USA. Their heavyweight clash against England to decide top spot in Pool D never materialised, the game falling foul of Typhoon Hagibis.
The French do have some serious weapons in their arsenal. There are some brilliant runners in Damian Penaud and Alivereti Raka, while scrum-half Antoine Dupont is growing in stature all the time. The French also have a huge, physical pack as well to work with. The trend with them in the World Cup has been to come out fast and strong, but then fade away the longer games wear on. Their concentration over 80 minutes has been called into question.
Wales v France Betting Tip
Wales 1-12 point Winning Margin at 11/8
* (betting odds taken from Willian Hill on October 19th, 2019 at 12:19 pm)
Wales v France Prediction
Wales are just so consistently steady in their games. They may be lacking the kind of outrageous individual star power that other nations rely on, but there is arguably not a better team spirit, team mentality around than the one that Wales have. Even if France come hard and fast at them early on, Wales are likely to overcome any early storm and bank another victory over the French.
