Wales went to the top of rugby’s World Ranking List on Saturday when they beat England 13-6 in Cardiff.
If, however, you are a New Jersey betting man; you had better take note. Their victory, which reversed the defeat by England a week earlier, has had very little impact on your state’s sportsbooks.
New Zealand are still their World Cup favorites – and it’s not altogether a surprise. The Kiwis did, after all, shrug away their record 47-26 defeat to Australia a week earlier with a 36-0 win Saturday.
It enabled them to keep a firm hold on the Bledisloe Cup, which they seem to have held forever. It also reminded the world that it can never write this proud rugby nation off.
And the Bookies of the Garden State are clearly well aware of it. On Sunday, the State’s sportsbook market leader FanDuel had them tops at +125. That’s a little firmer than their odds of +130 a week ago.
South Africa remained second favorites after its ‘second team’ ground out a 24-18 home victory over Argentina on Saturday. FanDuel had them unchanged from last week at +470 with England third at +500.
Wales not in FanDuel’s top three favorites
Contradicting the rankings, Wales is not even FanDuel’s 4th favorite for the 2019 Rugby World Cup which begins on September 20
Ireland is sitting in that slot at +750 with the Welshman at +1000.
The odds on Australia have weakened – and not surprisingly after the hiding given them by the All Blacks. They have gone from around +1400 to +1600.
France and Scotland are next at a distant +3600 and Argentina are even further back at +4500.
NJ’s sportsbooks are not all as unanimous about their next-best favorites as they are about the favorites.
888sport pretty much agree with FanDuel in so far as the order of their top five favorites is concerned although their pricing is tighter. For example, they have South Africa at +450 as against FanDuel’s +470 and Australia at +1200 as against +1600.
Resorts have South Africa and England tied for second
Resorts Casino’s online sportsbook has South Africa and England tied as second favorites at +450. Ireland is 4th at +700, Wales 5th at +800 and Australia 6th at +1400.
PointsBet, on the other hand, sees things very differently. After New Zealand at a low, low +111, they have England at +450, Ireland at +550, Wales at +600, South Africa at +800 and Australia at +1200.
Two-time World Cup winners South Africa have had a patchy record in the past few seasons. But not in the present one. Under new head coach ‘Russie’ Erasmus they came out of the Southern Hemisphere’s Rugby Championship just ended unbeaten. That was against New Zealand, Australia, and Argentina.
If you are a Springbok fan with belief in Erasmus and the men he is talking to Japan, +800 (8/1) looks to be pretty good.
Host nation Japan is around about +20000 (200/1) on most sportsbooks. Russia, Uruguay, and Namibia are bottom of the pile.
You can get them at odds of +20000 (200/1), but you can also get them +100000 (1000/1). Resorts even have Namibia at +400000 (4000/1).
