Following the third round of group-stage games, we’re taking a look at how the big guns in the Rugby World Cup 2023 odds are shaping up.
France is hosting the 10th renewal of this tournament, with the final set to take place on October 28 at Stade de France.
Punters can also check out our look at past trends and stats, but here are the leading contenders to lift the Webb Ellis Cup this year:
1. SOUTH AFRICA @ 5/2
The Springboks slipped to a narrow 13-8 defeat against Ireland as they paid a heavy price for some costly goal-kicking issues, with scrum-half Faf de Klerk off target with two long-range kicks, while fly-half Manie Libbok wasted another, in addition to a conversion.
Those expensive misses increased calls for the return of Handre Pollard, who was a key man as his country won the tournament in 2019 and was added to Jacques Nienaber’s squad last weekend after overcoming a calf problem.
However, head coach Rassie Erasmus warned: “Handre is not superman and can’t come back as fully ready after playing only 30 minutes of rugby since his injury. He can’t just come on to the field to kick goals, he must also be able to sidestep, hand-off, make tackles, clean out at the ruck and that’s obviously not the case now because he has only had a full week’s training with us.”
On the plus side, South Africa’s forward power was on show against the Irish and they will not have to face the world’s top-ranked team again until the final – if both make it that far.
2. IRELAND @ 3/1
Andy Farrell’s Six Nations champions underlined their Rugby World Cup credentials by scalping defending champions South Africa to register a third successive Pool B victory and believe they are capable of more improvement.
Defence coach Simon Easterby said: “This is another stepping stone I guess towards what we all want to try to achieve over the next couple of weeks. There’s so much belief in what the players are doing. They pitch up time and time again.
“There’s a few things that have gone on over the last couple of seasons that give the guys confidence and trust in what we’re doing. We’re genuinely feeling that we can get better and we need to get better as the competition goes on. There’s more in us and we have to get better.”
3. FRANCE @ 15/4
The hosts remained on course to top Pool A after following up hard-fought wins over New Zealand and Uruguay with a 96-0 romp versus Namibia, but that victory was marred by an injury to Antoine Dupont.
France captain Dupont has undergone surgery after suffering a facial fracture in a head-on-head collision and there is a real possibility of Les Bleus losing their star player for the rest of the tournament.
Fabien Galthie’s side have been in fine form so far, but with number one fly-half Romain Ntamack already sidelined through injury, the alarm bells are ringing ahead of a probable quarter-final clash with South Africa.
4. NEW ZEALAND @ 4/1
The All Blacks had a weekend off and should be fully freshened up ahead of Friday’s crucial clash with Italy in Lyon, where a win should set up a date with Ireland.
Captain Ardie Savea previously hailed an “awesome” attacking display from his side as they bounced back from losing to France by romping to a 71-3 triumph over Namibia.
Half-back pairing Damian McKenzie and Cam Roigard each scored two tries in the opening period and injected some much-needed pace into a New Zealand team which had laboured in defeat against Les Bleus.
5. ENGLAND @ 12/1
Saturday’s 71-0 rout of Chile in Lille put England on the brink of qualifying for the quarter-finals, with 20-year-old Henry Arundell equalling a team record of five tries scored in one match.
Marcus Smith also impressed at full-back and Owen Farrell made a successful return from suspension, with Steve Borthwick’s side scoring 11 tries against the weakest team in Pool D as their attacking game exploded into life.
“There was a lot of exciting talent on the pitch,” beamed Borthwick. “This squad is packed full of talent and packed full of options.”
6. WALES @ 20/1
Jonathan Humphreys says Wales are looking no further ahead than next opponents Georgia as their Rugby World Cup campaign continues to gather impressive momentum.
A record 40-6 victory over Australia confirmed a quarter-final place one game inside the distance and they will top Pool C if they defeat Georgia in Nantes next week, before a last-eight clash potentially against Argentina in Marseille.
“We need to fully concentrate on Georgia. We know we are in the quarter-finals, but Georgia is a massive game for us,” assistant coach Humphreys said. “We want to keep momentum going and we don’t want to fall off the standards we are setting. We will just focus on them.”
7. FIJI @ 33/1
Australia’s humiliating loss to Wales has left Fiji in pole position to qualify as runners-up from Pool C ahead of upcoming clashes with Georgia and Portugal.
Their brilliance at the turnover, combined with the clinical boot of Simione Kuruvoli, saw them earlier edge out the Wallabies with a fine performance, which was a first victory over the Wallabies since 1954.
They had pushed Wales close when losing narrowly by a 32-26 scoreline and now look set to tackle England in the last eight, having upset the same opponents in a Twickenham warm-up match recently.
8. ARGENTINA @ 40/1
Emiliano Boffelli was the difference-maker as Argentina survived a late charge to beat Samoa and reignite their World Cup campaign.
With the Pumas losing to England in their opening Pool D fixture, they needed to beat Samoa to keep alive realistic hopes of progressing into the knockout stages.
They did that with an attritional 19-10 win in Saint-Etienne, with Boffelli delivering all the points after pre-match pressures were eased when Samoa’s Duncan Paia’aua was sent to the sin-bin in the opening minute.
9. SCOTLAND @ 100/1
The Scots bounced back from an opening loss to South Africa with a 45-17 win over Tonga on Sunday but still face an uphill battle to qualify from a tough Pool B and remain outsiders in the Rugby World Cup 2023 odds.
They now know they will have to get a bonus-point win over Romania in Lille on Saturday and then ensure they defeat Ireland in Paris the following weekend with a bonus point or win by more than seven points to deny the Irish a losing bonus.
Gregor Townsend said: “We know it’s going to be a difficult challenge against the number one team in the world. We’re going to have to do it the hard way to get out of this group but we believe in our players.”
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