Rugby World Cup 2019: Preview of the tournament
In September of the 2019th, Japan, land of warriors will host the most important tournament in rugby. This tournament is taking place every 4 years so it is being almost equally important as Olympic tournament. Unlike many popular sports, Rugby started World Cup tradition at the end of the 20th century. Winner of the first edition was New Zealand. It almost can be said that nothing changed so far. New Zealand was very consistent and won it 3 times.
What can we expect from the 2019 World cup tournament?
A big number of teams, 20, this guarantees that the Rugby World Cup is going to be watched in every part of the world. But, it also has a downside. Top quality teams are in minority in this format so they have to play some matches, which they “won in advance”. It is also less attractive for spectators to watch how, for example, New Zealand, winning against fewer quality teams by 50+ differences.
New Zealand is the top favorite to win the tournament with the odds of just 11/10 (2.10) (Bet365) and it is really hard to believe that someone is going to beat them. Battle for other 2 medals should be much more interesting. England and Ireland are projected runner-ups with the odds of 4/1 (5.00) (Bet365). Wales, South Africa, and Australia are given fewer chances to win the medal. The interesting thing about Ireland national team is that they lost all 6 Quarterfinals they played in. France national squad lost all 3 finals as well, while South African squad won both finals they played in.
1st round matches and betting predictions
Tokyo Stadium in Tokyo will host the opening ceremony and the first match of the tournament. Traditionally, host of the tournament is playing the first match. Is there any other better way to start the tournament than by win in front of the full stadium cheering for you? Not quite. Great thing is that their opponent is not too strong for them, actually, Japan squad is far better-ranked team and they really shouldn’t have any problems to defeat the national team of Russia. Bookmakers are predicting convincing victory for Japan, and provide the odds of only 1/20 (1.05) (Bet365).Click here to find some freebets created especially for Rugby World Cup. You don’t have to be a math expert to realize that it isn’t worthy of the risk. However, we think that Bookies were a bit driven by the home court advantage.
Our call for this match would be: Japan -21.5 – Russia 2 @5/6 (1.86) (Bet365)
2nd day of the tournament is reserved for the derby of round one.
New Zealand – South Africa
Although New Zealand is a big favorite to win the tournament, 1st round matches are always a two-edged sword. Those two teams are favorites to go to QF as two first placed teams of the group. It wouldn’t be the first time that favorites lose first round matches due to rust. Also, everyone will need to get used to Japanese food, their way of life, culture and so on. It will likely be the problem for both teams so we decided to give a shot with the “under”.
New Zealand – South Africa Total 56.5 Under @5/6 (1.86) [Bet365]
Ireland – Scotland
This matchup could be crucial for standings of the group A. Everyone in the group A is going to have problems with Japan in front of their home crowd so victory in this match would really make life easier for any of them. Irish national squad played some great rugby recently, and if they don’t make some significant changes in their roster they should pick this one up. Their matches were always close so if odds of 1.25 for the Irelands win is too small for you, you could try with the Asian handicap.
Ireland – Scotland Ireland to win @1/4 (1.25) [Bet365]
Ireland (-7.5) – Scotland Scotland to win @5/6 (1.86) [Bet365]
France – Argentina
The evenest matchup of round one is this one for sure. 8th ranked team of the world against a 10th ranked team. With this in mind, it should be almost guaranteed that the game will be tight, probably one ball will decide the winner. Odds for this match are pretty close as well. France is given slightly better chances 4/7 (1.56), odds for Argentina victory are 11/10 (2.10). we expect an exciting match with a low number of points so our prediction for this one would be:
France – Argentina Total under 58.5 @5/6 (1.86) [Bet365]
