Rugby is popular in many regions across the world, including Europe, Africa, Oceania, and South America. As with any sport with a big following, fans want to enjoy having a bet on the games, with some of the major tournaments including the Rugby World Cup, Six Nations, and Super Rugby. Continue below as we look at some of the most popular betting markets in rugby.
Outright Winner
The outright winner betting market is the most popular way to bet on rugby and it involves backing the team you think is going to win a tournament. This could be the winner of the Rugby World Cup or the Six Nations, for example.
The bookmaker will list the odds for the outright winner market well ahead of the beginning of the tournament, so it is a good way to bet on an event when you cannot wait for the tournament to start.
In November, it is possible to bet on the winner of the Six Nations, even though the competition does not start until February. Betting on the outright winner market is straightforward as all you must do is pick the team you think will win, making it an ideal rugby betting market for beginners. Don’t forget, you can bet from just £5 with most bookies, which is great if you are just starting or have a limited budget for rugby betting.
Match Winner
Every rugby competition is made up of several matches, especially leagues, which can see teams play 15 more games each during a single season. That means there are many opportunities to bet on the match winner market, which involves betting on the team you think will win an individual rugby match. For example, the 2023 Rugby World Cup final was between South Africa and New Zealand, so you would choose one of the two teams to back in the betting.
With professional rugby being played around the world, there are often many matches being played, especially on the weekend, so that presents plenty of match winner betting opportunities. Much like the outright winner market, the match winner rugby betting market is one of the most popular because it is easy to understand.
Handicap Betting
Handicap betting is a popular rugby betting market but is not as straightforward as the outright and match winner markets highlighted above. When handicap betting in rugby, you are betting on a team to win the match based on a predetermined margin of points.
If a team in the betting odds has a – sign, the team must win by more than this margin for the team to be considered victorious in terms of the bet. If the team has a + sign after them in the betting odds, they can afford to lose the match within the points margin and they will be considered the winner in terms of the bet. For example, England could be +8 at odds of 2/1 and that means if you bet on England and they do not lose the game by more than 8 points, it will be a winning bet.
The handicap rugby betting market is popular because it allows you to bet on the outcome of games where there is a clear favourite and the match winner odds are not good enough.
Total Points
The total points betting market in rugby involves predicting the total amount of points scored come the end of the match. This is usually presented in an over/under format and the bookmaker will present the market as a specified number of points, such as 30.5.
Your job is to predict whether the match will see over or under that number of points and you bet accordingly. The total points rugby betting market is a lot of fun because the outcome is not tied to which team will win the match or tournament.
Winning Margin
The winning margin rugby betting market is often used when there is a heavy favourite to win the match. For example, if New Zealand were playing Italy, New Zealand would be massive favourites and their odds in the match winner market would not be worth backing as they would be so low. However, you could bet on New Zealand to win the match by 50 points or more.
So, if New Zealand beat Italy 63-9, you would win the bet because the winning margin was 54 points.
Outright winner, match winner, handicap betting, total points, and winning margin are the most popular betting markets in rugby.
