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Betting on Rugby Union
Rugby Union is a full contact team sport that is played professionally in over 100 countries, and is hugely popular in the UK, France, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Over the years, Rugby Union has been steadily gaining popularity around the world, which led the World Cup to be held in 2015 recording some of the highest numbers ever, in terms of stadium attendance, viewership, revenue, and betting activity.
The best online bookmakers have recognised the increase in popularity and demand for rugby union betting, and are offering more betting opportunities for the sport than ever before. There are also several sites that actively help bettors by providing rugby union betting tips and rugby betting tips for almost all matches.
Where to bet on Rugby
Types of Rugby Union Bets
One of the best ways to make the most out of your wagers is learning about the different betting markets for rugby. Always remember to compare the odds from various bookmakers online so you can bet on the market that will likely bring you the best results. Take a look at some of the usual betting markets available for rugby.
Outright rugby betting
This type of rugby bets involves predicting various outcomes for the entire season. All outright bets are closed before the start of the season and are settled after the season ends. Some of the outright bets for Rugby Union are:
- Grand Final Winner - Bet to pick a team that will win the championship
- Regular Season Winner - Bet to pick a team that will be at the top of the standings after the end of the regular season
- Make the Play-Offs/Final - Bet to pick if a certain team will make it to the playoffs
- Make the Finals - Bet to pick if a certain team will make it to the finals
- Finish at Bottom - A bet on which team will be at the bottom of the standings at the end of the regular season
- To Be Relegated - A bet on which team will be relegated at the end of the season
- Top Try Scorer - Bet to pick which player will score the highest number of tries during the regular season
- Top Points Scorer - Bet to pick which player will score the highest number of points in the regular season
- Top Team Try Scorer - Bet to pick a player who will score the most number of tries for their team. This bet will be available for every team in the league
Winner betting
This is the simplest type of bet available for a Rugby Union match. It is to simply pick if either of the team will win the match or pick if it will end in a draw. This bet will be available for every single match.
Handicap betting
With this type of rugby bet, the favourites are handicapped by a certain number of points before the start of the match. A bettor has to pick, if the favourites will have more points, two teams will have the same number of points, or if the underdogs will have more points, after the handicap points are deducted from the favourites at the end of the match.
Some sportsbooks will additionally offer up to 6 alternate handicap bets for a single match, by varying the handicap points and rugby betting odds.
No draw handicap betting
With these handicapped bets, bettors will pick, if the favourites will have more points, or if the underdogs will have more points, after the handicap points are deducted from the favourites at the end of the match. If the two teams have the same number of points after the handicap points are deducted, the bet ends in a push. Some sportsbooks will offer a few alternate No Draw Handicap bets varying the handicap points and odds.
Double result betting
This bet is to pick the right outcome for both, the first half and the entire match, as a single bet. A bettor can pick, either of the team or a draw for the first half outcome, and either of the team or a draw for the full match outcome. All possible combinations leave the bettor nine choices to pick from for the bet.
Score betting
There are quite a few types of bets that will be available based on points scored. Some of them are:
- Over/Under - This bet is to pick if the total score of both teams put together will be over or under, the number of points that established and new online bookmakers post
- First Team to Score
- Last Team to Score
- Total Points Odd/Even
- Highest Scoring Half
- Race To First 10 Points - This bet is to pick the team that reaches 10 points first
- Tries betting
- These bets are based on the tries scored in the match, some of them are:
- First Team Try - Bet to pick which team will score the first try of the match
- Last Team Try - Bet to pick which team will score the last try of the match
- Total Tries Odd/Even
- Exact Number Of Tries
Try scorer betting
These bets are to pick the players on either team to score tries. Some of them are:
- First Try - Bet to pick a player from either teams to score the first try of the match
- Last Try
- Anytime Try
- 2 or More Tries
- Hat-trick Tries
Rugby Union Competitions
The Rugby World Cup, which happens every four years, is the most popular international event in rugby union. Consequently, this is also the most betted upon event. The other popular international events are, the Six Nations Championship, The Rugby Championship, and Super Rugby, all of which are held annually.
Rugby union is also played in domestic leagues in a few countries. The English Premiership in UK and Top 14 in France are the two most popular rugby union leagues in the world.
Besides domestic league matches, the best teams from each league around the world, play several competitions every year. The most popular of these competitions are Guinness PRO12, European Rugby Champions Cup, and the European Challenge Cup.
Conclusion
Rugby Union is an interesting sport to watch as it provides non-stop action. There are so many unpredictable outcomes that are possible throughout the course of a match. Ardent Rugby Union fans pride themselves in correctly predicting the outcome of matches and tournaments, which has steered them towards betting as a vindication of their sports expertise and also make some money out of their favourite sport. With a number of major competitions around the world; throughout the year, and bookmakers offering a wide range of rugby union betting odds, fans for sure have plenty to cheer about, watching and betting on their favourite sport.