Who could win the World Cup?
A look ahead to next year’s World Cup shoes some rather tantalising odds for those who are ready to place a punt or two on rugby union’s greatest showpiece, which only comes around once every four years, so doesn’t present frequent opportunities to place a nice bet.
The All Blacks, of course, are the outright favourites at odds of 6/5, as the New Zealand team are pretty dominant at the moment. It doesn’t really matter that they were beaten by the South Africans in the Rugby Championship recently, because a unit of such great status and calibre are always the team to back at world-class events like the one that will happen in Japan next year.
The Springboks (15/2), too, are among the top tips for the tournament. Led by a strong scrum pack and a swift back line, the men from Cape Town, Johannesburg and surrounds have won the competition twice, in 1995 and 2007, and could be on course to do so a third time. They don’t have the likes of Francois Piennar and Chester Williams in their ranks anymore, but other high flyers have taken over. Handre Pollard is one such big name to look out for. He is arguably the world’s best fly-half at the moment – and the second he steps onto the field you can sense the anticipation from fans and critics alike. He his good with the boot, solid through the line, decent in the tackle and great when kicking from the tee. Some might say there are shades of Naas Botha to his kicking game.
Never discount the Australians (11/4) when it comes to making a pick as to who could win the World Cup. With or without David Pocock, they are a really good team, even if their recent stretch of form hasn’t suggested as much. They are the kind of outfit that can successfully weather the bad times, knowing full well that form is temporary and class is permanent. They also have a really solid play maker in Will Genia. He has been around the block once or twice and isn’t a bad choice for the Player of the Tournament award either. He is the sort of figure head that all internationals want to have in their XV, particularly in their back line.
When push comes to shove, and you have to look beyond the teams in the southern hemisphere, then it’s certainly worth casting a glance or three to the Six Nations teams as among the favourites to lead the markets and perhaps win the tournament. The leading example is certainly England (13/2), who have topped markets vast and varied in the past. The best betting sites will show the same, that the English are not to be fooled with. They present the sort of odds that can bring great profit, in terms of your bank balance as a punter and your bragging rights among your South African and Australian friends. Many have profited off them previously, and many will in the future as well. The question remains, though, are you prepared to back them to go all the way?
Like England, Scotland and France are prone to only making it into the semi-finals and no further. Wales and Ireland are perennial quarter-finalists, and on occasion they manage to graduate to greater heights. These teams are also worth backing if you really want to put your money where mouth is. You might enjoy the luck of the Irish or the fortune of the French and come out on the right end of a particularly intriguing market.
For odds-on favourites, though, you really should not look beyond the mighty All Blacks. They have done it before and they will do it again. Steve Hansen is proving to be a really great coach – one that will go down in the record books for decades to come. He really looks after his troops well – and ensures that they play in the right sort of pattern than leaves even the most hectic of opposition looking like veritable beginners. This has been seen at World Cups time and time again. Hansen wasn’t in charge at the time, but few will forget the 140-plus points New Zealand put over Japan back in 1995.
So the next time you reckon it’s a good chance to really test your ability to be a bit of a rugby expert, in market-related odds and surrounds, you can now feel pretty equipped with the sort of background information required for this sort of hobby or pastime. There are always going to be the smaller teams that you could consider, but the best bet is to not even trifle with those. Some parties will suggest or even insist that teams like Argentina or even Russia could get the business done when it needs doing the most. That’s too farfetched to truly consider as the right option.