Bookmakers Expect £60 Million to Be Bet on Rugby World Cup

The Rugby World Cup is due to start in just over a week and bookmakers have said that they are expecting more than £60 million to be bet on it which will make it the sport’s biggest ever betting event.

England’s first match will be against Fiji on September 18th and bookmakers have said that the bets are already coming in thick and fast. Unsurprisingly the current title holders, New Zealand, are the favourites going into the tournament and there have reportedly been a number of five figure bets already placed on the team.

However, the host nation, England, is also receiving strong support from punters and there have been a number of big bets placed on the team. Ireland is also reportedly receiving a lot of support despite the odds being rather poor.

As mentioned New Zealand is favourite to win the tournament with odds of around 6/5 at most bookmakers. England is second favourite but they are a long way behind, the shortest odds available are 7/2 while most bookmakers have placed them at 4/1.

In other popular betting markets, Julian Savea is favourite to be the top try scorer with odds of 11/2 followed by Bryan Habana at 12/1. The final is widely predicted to be England against New Zealand with odds of 9/2 followed by New Zealand against Ireland with odds of 6/1.

The Rugby World Cup will be taking place between 18th September and 31st October and these odds may change as the tournament develops. The good news for England fans is that the team is virtually certain to qualify beyond the pool stage with odds of 2/9.