• Sun. Dec 22nd, 2024
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    Ulster Rugby

    A closer look at South Africa’s extraordinary odds for the 2023 Rugby World Cup

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    A closer look at South Africa’s extraordinary odds for the 2023 Rugby World Cup

    It feels like it was just the other day when Siya Kolisi hoisted aloft the Webb Ellis Cup at the Nissan Stadium in Yokohama when, in actual fact, it’s coming up to two years ago now. Even stranger still is that we are now less than two years away from kick-off in the 2023 World Cup in France, which is scheduled to start on the eighth of September 2023.
    Intriguingly, the latest rugby union betting odds price New Zealand as the favourites to go all the way in France, which is a curious development.
    Indeed, when you mull over the latest Rugby Union betting tips you’ll find that the All Blacks are heavily tipped to win rugby’s greatest prize at the Stade de France on the 28th of October 2023. With this being the case, the time has come to ask if this is indeed a fair reflection of the current status quo of world rugby given what has happened over the last 24 months.

    South Africa strangely unfancied for Rugby World Cup

    First off, it’s worth pointing out that South Africa have been priced at a simply extraordinary 11/2, despite being the reigning World Cup champions. Jacques Nienaber’s men find themselves behind the likes of England and, astonishingly, also France in the latest odds.
    It’s hard to explain why this would be the case when the Springboks also won the last World Cup to be staged in France back in 2007. Additionally, they’re also in sensational form after recently putting the British and Irish Lions to the sword in South Africa.

    What that series win did was make a compelling case for this South African side to be considered one of the greatest of all time, as they had also won the Rugby Championship in 2019 after beating the mighty All Blacks. So with that form being maintained into 2021, you are left scratching your head at the thought of the Boks being the fourth favourites to win a World Cup that is less than 730 days away.

    Spring Boks should be optimistic, despite odds

    Perhaps those odds take into account the fact that a lot can change over that time but, at the time of the World Cup in 2023, game-changers like Cheslin Kolbe will be 29, as will Handre Pollard and Lukhanyo Am. Faf de Klerk and Eben Etzebeth will be 31, whilst captain Siya Kolisi will be 32. In other words, the spine of this team that has helped the Springboks get to the number one world ranking will be in the prime of their careers when the tournament starts. In that sense, it’s hard to make a case for this side being past their best when their flight departs Oliver Tambo Airport in Johannesburg for Charles de Gaulle in two years time.
    Given the weight of evidence that we can sift through, it does just feel as if New Zealand have been slightly fortunate to have been awarded the favourites tag when South Africa are far and away the best team in the world at this moment in time. Indeed, at an inconceivable 11/2 in the latest odds, has there ever been a bet with more value in the history of the sport?

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