The Only Rugby Betting Guide You Need
The 2023−24 rugby season is in full swing and we have some excellent tournaments and competitions to look forward to. If you are an ardent rugby follower and enjoy watching games live on TV or streaming platforms, you may be looking for ways to make the games more exciting.
I mean, the action is riveting enough, but what if you could add an extra layer of intrigue to the games and potentially make a little pocket money? I’m talking, of course, about sports betting on rugby and if this is something you are interested in, I give you a complete guide below.
Rugby Betting⎯A Simple Introduction
Before we jump into the specifics, let’s take a simple look at rugby betting and explore what it is. The premise is easy⎯you place a bet on the outcome of something in a rugby match. The bet is placed with an online sportsbook that offers different odds on various rugby matches and tournaments.
You will be given odds for each bet in either a fraction, such as 8/1, or a decimal, such as 2.00. This represents the difficulty of the bet but also the respective payout you will receive if you win.
In this example, 8/1 is highly unlikely and for every £1 you wager, you get £8 in return, plus your stake back. In contrast, 2.0 is more likely and is essentially a 50/50 split where if you bet £1, you win £1 plus your stake back.
Usually, when you add a wager to your online betting slip, the sportsbook will show you what you stand to win based on how much you bet and the odds. However, it’s still important to have a grasp of the mechanics so you know what a good and bad rugby bet is.
Supported Rugby Competitions
Rugby betting is incredibly varied and you can place wagers on all the major leagues and competitions, including
- The Rugby World Cup
- The Six Nations
- The Rugby League
- The Rugby Union
This includes Rugby Union and Rugby League competitions from around the world, including countries like France, the UK, Australia, South Africa, and New Zealand. Within the different competitions, individual matches will be covered by the sportsbooks, and you can usually bet on different possibilities, which I explain in greater detail below.
Aside from the regular annual Rugby League and Rugby Union competitions, sportsbooks will also cover major recurring tournaments like the Rugby World Cup and the Six Nations Tournament. There is usually more hype around these tournaments, and they are generally more popular than national league rugby.
How You Can Bet On Rugby Matches⎯Bet Types Explained
One of the main things you need to understand about rugby betting is the different varieties of bets. You can spend your money in a variety of ways, and this is what makes it so interesting. For example, if you are really into your rugby and like looking at advanced stats on club websites, there are many bets you can make that will benefit from your knowledge.
Alternatively, if you want to keep it simple and just want to place wagers on your favourite rugby team, you can make no-brainer wagers, such as the outcome of matches. Below, I explain the main bet types available for rugby sports betting.
Overall Winner
The most basic bet that you can wager on rugby is the overall winner. It’s a timeless classic and many people prefer this as it’s nice and easy. You essentially bet on the winner of the game. For example, let’s say you bet on England to win vs Italy in the Six Nations. If England win, you win, if Italy win, you get nothing⎯easy.
Over/Under
Over/Under bets are more popular in the US, but you can get them in the UK too. Essentially, you are betting on the score deficit in the match. The sportsbook sets the ‘line’ and you have to choose whether a team will win by more or less than that. For example, you could bet that England will win by more than 10.
Player Bets
If you want to take it one step further, you can place wagers on individual rugby stars! These are generalised as player bets and examples include
- Most points
- Most tries
- First yellow card
- Man of the match
The odds of these are usually far less as they are more difficult to predict, so this also means that you can get a greater payout for your daring. These bets are fun to place with low wager amounts and on your favourite players.
Team Bets
Like player bets, you can also bet on teams to do specific things, aside from winning. Examples of popular team bets include
- First to score a try
- First to score a field goal
- Margin of the winning team
These, again, are more difficult, and they have lower odds and higher payouts. They can yield some excellent payouts if you manage to predict things correctly.
Handicap Bets
Lastly, handicap bets are where the sportsbook levels the playing field in a widely uneven match. For example, the bookmaker adds a handicap bonus to the team that is overwhelmingly expected to win. This evens the odds and makes neither choice a bad one.
How To Pick The Best Sportsbooks For Rugby Betting
You will be doing your online betting at sports betting websites, and they are not all created equal. Some are inherently better and safer than others, and some are better suited to rugby sports betting. Below, I have outlined the main things to look for to choose the right site for your rugby betting.
- Licensing
Never use a sportsbook without a valid gambling license from a reputable licensing authority! There are many offshore casinos and sportsbooks that operate without a license. A lack of a license means they are not regulated and not tied to any laws.
As a result, they can act as they like and could potentially withhold your money or even provide fake bets. Let me reiterate, only ever use licensed sports betting sites. You can usually find licensing info at the bottom of the website in the footer⎯there should be a clear section giving the license number, and a link to the regulatory bodies’ website.
- Promotions
When you are gambling, you want to get the most out of your money, and a simple way to do this with rugby bets is to make use of the promotions available at sportsbooks. Virtually every betting site has a range of promos for both new and existing customers.
The first one is the welcome offer, which is an introductory bonus for new registered users. This could be something like a free bet, or free bonus money that you can then use on rugby! Make sure that you read the terms and conditions of promotions carefully as there could be limitations on bet values, minimum odds, and expiry times that you have to use the bonus money or bet by.
- Payment Methods
Imagine registering with a sportsbook only to find that you can’t deposit any cash because they don’t support the payment methods you have. This can happen and is why it’s important to check the website’s banking system beforehand.
You can usually find a banking page that lists all their accepted payment methods, together with important things like processing times, payment fees, and withdrawal limits. Usually, the best rugby sports betting sites accept a range of common payment methods, like debit cards, credit cards, and e-wallets like PayPal and Skrill.
- Rugby Tournament And League Availability
Obviously you want a site that actually has rugby betting available! Compared to other sports, like basketball, football, tennis, and American football (for the US market at least), rugby falls down the pecking order somewhat and although it is usually available, depending on the size of the sportsbook, there may not be huge coverage of the games and tournaments.
Click on their rugby betting category and it should show the different competitions available. You can usually then click on each competition to see the bets and individual matches you can place wagers on, like the Rugby World Cup or the Six Nations Tournament.
- Rugby Bet Variety
Once you have established that the site supports a good range of competitions and has the matches you want to bet on, it’s a great idea to check the individual bets they offer. You may just want to bet on the overall outcome of matches and EVERY sports betting site offers this.
However, if you want to get creative and have more fun, you need to see what other bets they have to offer, like the ones I explained earlier.
- Odds Comparison
Lastly, I always check the odds the sportsbook is giving as there can be variance between platforms and some can give better odds than others.
Usually, there isn’t much difference, and we are talking about maybe 0.5−1% but still, less-popular sportsbooks may have some better odds as they don’t have the means to cover the games like the big providers, or spend as much money on odds research.
You can usually click on individual matches within the rugby section and then see a list of different bets, together with the odds, before adding them to your betting slip.
Give Rugby Betting A Try Today And Bet On Your Favourite Team
I hope you now have a fantastic idea of what rugby sports betting entails and how you can get into it. The key is to find the right sportsbook, do your research, pick your bets carefully and, most importantly, have fun!