Looking at the opening matches of this year’s Rugby World Cup, it’s been difficult to spot anything that remotely resembles a close contest. From a betting point of view, unless you are one of those gamblers that likes to bet on racing certainties, there aren’t a great deal of options to be had.
Early games include New Zealand v Tonga where most bookmakers have stopped taking money on the All Blacks, as well as France v Japan and Australia v Italy.
The problem is that shocks are rare in rugby and while Italy would contest any suggestion that they should be included with the game’s minnows, over eighty minutes they will have little chance of defeating the mighty Wallabies.
Overall, this game between South Africa and Wales looks to be the most closely contested fixture but even here, there is a strong betting bias towards the South African side.
At the time of writing, betting on South Africa to win this game is available at a best price of 2/11 with Sporting Bet while a gamble on a victory for the Welsh comes in as high as 6/1 with Bet Fred. Incidentally, betting on the draw can be found at 33/1 with a number of bookmakers.
In the recent ‘friendly’ internationals against England, the Welsh showed that they will be nobody’s pushovers in this tournament and if you think they have the capability to beat the South African’s, a price of 6/1 is very good value indeed.
Overall however, it looks as if South Africa will be too strong and perhaps the best option is to bet on Wales to be leading at half time, only for their opponents to claim the game in the second half. If you think this is an option, a bet here will get you a best price of 13/2 with Boyle Sports.