Best Rugby Betting Sites

Rugby union and league are two cornerstone sports in New Zealand and sports betting sites would be remiss if they didn't put rugby betting at the heart of what they offer on their sportsbooks.

Our team of betting experts have been studying each and every bookmaker licensed and legally able to operate in New Zealand to come up with a comprehensive list of the best sites to bet on rugby. 

Best Rugby Betting Sites Ranked And Reviewed

To be ranked among our top rugby bookmakers requires far more than just offering rugby odds and Gambling.com's team of experts have provided a breakdown of the strengths and weaknesses of each of their top rugby betting sites.

NZ bettors aren't short of options when it comes to betting on rugby, but these are the ones our betting insiders use or recommend for punting on either code.

Best Rugby Betting Site For Accumulators: 888Sport

Best Features

888Sport customers can claim a $5 free bet every week as part of the betting site's Acca Club. To qualify, stake $20 or more on rugby multis of three legs or more. The minimum odds for each selection must be 1.50. Once your bets have been settled, you'll receive the free sports bet. 

You can also receive a $5 free bet for backing a rugby winner with odds of 5.0 or greater from a bookmaker that tends to run regular offers and gives away $50 in free bets as part of their sign-up offer. We also appreciate the explanation of how some markets work above the odds, such as for handicap bets.

Room For Improvement

Navigating the site could be easier, and the bookmaker doesn't promote its responsible gambling tools as well as some rivals.

Verdict

888Sport are a really strong rugby betting site, covering a huge number of competitions to make it straightforward to enjoy their multi-bet bonus. They are quick to price up a good number of markets and have a track record of running some top rugby promotions around major tournaments.

Best Rugby Betting Site For Free Bets: LeoVegas

Best Features

Unlike a lot of online bookmakers, LeoVegas' sign-up offer has very few strings attached and gives rugby bettors $50 in free bets to wager on the sport. There are no wagering requirements involved or restrictions on which sport you can use the welcome bonus, just a straight up bet $50, get $50 offer. 

LeoVegas operate a multi-bet profit boost promotion where punters can enjoy up to a 50% hike in winnings on any successful multis. The bookmaker also provides a good selection of markets for both codes, an award-winning app and offers 24/7 support to New Zealand users.

Room For Improvement

LeoVegas have room to add more odds boosts and offers to all their sports, but particularly rugby, which is underserved in that regard.

Verdict

Despite the popularity of rugby union and league, its harder to find a bookmaker willing to hand out free bets than if you were looking at horse racing betting sites. Therefore, getting $50 in free bets to wager on rugby is a big plus point in LeoVegas's favour.

They are something of a no-frills rugby bookmaker with very few boosts and offers. But what LeoVegas do, they do it very well, in particular when it comes to mobile betting.

Best Rugby Betting Site For Recurring Offers: Bet365

Best Features

Bet365 stands alone among rugby betting sites for offering an early payout on selected rugby union and league matches, including games from Super Rugby and the NRL. If the team you backed to win goes 16 points ahead at any point in an NRL game, bet365 will settle the bet as a winner, no matter the final score.

The same goes for Super Rugby games, only a team need to be 17 points clear for the offer to kick in. If you've had a rugby multi, then that leg of the accumulator will automatically be marked as a winner should the team you backed go the specific number of points ahead.

Bet365 also offer to refund bets on player markets for NRL games should the player you've backed get ruled out before half-time through injury. Finally, if the match you've punted on goes to extra time and you're wager hasn't been settled, it will remain active for extra time, which is ideal for the NRL finals and Rugby World Cup betting.

If all those offers weren't enough, bet365 has a huge selection of live streaming options, a highly-rated mobile app and is regularly one of the first rugby bookmakers to get matches priced up.

Room For Improvement

There's not a whole lot bet365 can improve on but our panel did spot that rugby bettors can't take advantage of their multis offer, while there's no loyalty program.

Verdict

It's best to have accounts with multiple betting sites to take advantage of any price discrepancies, but if you are only going to sign up with one rugby betting site, bet365 may be the best option.

You won't find bet365's range of offers on both codes anywhere else and they have a great selection of markets. There's always more they can do for rugby punters, but there's plenty to like about bet365 as a rugby bookmaker

Best Rugby Betting Site For Loyalty Clubs: BetVictor

Best Features

For those who bet on rugby regularly, there's an opportunity to earn $25 in free bets each week with BetVictor's Loyalty Club. Opt in to the promotion and place five bets of $5 or more at odds of 1.50 or greater to qualify. You'll then receive a virtual box containing a free bet worth between $1 and $25 which can be spent on any sport.

BetVictor are big on rugby betting and you can use their Lucky Dip tool on either code to receive improved odds on your match of choice. You can also find small stat packs for selected games on the match betting page, giving you a breakdown of the two team's recent form, head-to-head history and more.

The welcome offer, giving you $100 in free bets that can be used to bet on rugby, is among the most generous on the market and watch out for when the All Blacks are playing, as BetVictor have a history of running plenty of specials for their games.

Room For Improvement

The range of payment methods could be greater and some customers have reported having to wait up to two weeks for payouts on rare occasions.

Verdict

Not knowing how much you'll earn from the loyalty club did irk our team of experts, but if you are lucky enough to land the $25 free bet on a regular basis, then it becomes a big selling point for an online bookmaker with an impressive all-round package.

The welcome offer is excellent and BetVictor do make a big deal out of their rugby betting markets, which regularly have odds boosts and Lucky Dip offers attached to them.

Best Rugby Betting Site For Odds: Stake

Best Features

Stake's rugby markets aren't front and centre on its site, which is a surprise as they are comprehensive and well-priced. Our experts found Stake's odds to be very competitive across several markets and were also impressed with the in-play betting options.

By betting on rugby, you can take part in Stake's various tournaments, where users can win huge cash sums, including Stake's Daily Races, where the top 5,000 people on the leaderboard instantly receive prizes from a $100,000 prize pool.

Room For Improvement

Stake have a massive range of offers, covering everything from F1, baseball, football and cricket betting, yet our team saw no sign of any rugby offers while conducting their review.

Verdict

The lack of rugby offers and a mobile app saw Stake lose points when being reviewed, but we were impressed with how competitive their odds were for both rugby union and league. There's also a strong focus on in-play betting, while Stake's mobile site is easy enough to navigate, making up for the lack of an app.

Best Rugby Betting Site For Odds Boosts: William Hill

Best Features

William Hill claim to regularly offer over 100 markets on rugby and during big tournaments, such as the Rugby Championship, Six Nations and Rugby World Cup, that number only goes up.

Hills up their game during those major tournaments, producing a range of daily enhanced specials, combining bets from different games to come up with unique betting opportunities.

But the real strength of William Hill's rugby markets is the large number of odds boosts they produce for nearly every contest. Our team found the odds had been boosted significantly for at least two selections in each of the Super Rugby and NRL matches we checked.

Room For Improvement

More offers throughout the season, rather than all coming out for the international tournaments, would be nice and they do seem to favour union over league when they do run any promotions.

Verdict

William Hill are a well-established operator with a good track record for competitive prices and offers when it comes to betting on rugby online.

Rugby league bettors may be left feeling a little short-changed but union fans will find plenty to like, especially the large number of odds boosts.

Best Rugby Betting App TonyBet

Best Features

A solid welcome offer, opportunities to earn free bets and a VIP program give TonyBet some solid foundations, and all those features can be accessed via a top-rated app. Available on both iOS and Android, the app offers the same slick navigation and functionality you'll find on the desktop site.

It's rare to find a bookmaker that offers same-game multis on rugby, but TonyBet provides that feature on all NRL and State of Origin matches.

Room For Improvement

TonyBet place a big emphasis on their excellent in-play betting service, a feature that would be greatly enhanced if they could offer live streaming on more events.

Verdict

New betting sites rarely focus on rugby at launch, but TonyBet have made sure it's been prominent on their site and app since it arrived in New Zealand in 2020. Being one of the only online bookmakers to offer same-game multis on NRL match is just one indication they want to be taken seriously as a rugby betting site.

The eye-catching app has helped TonyBet stand out among betting sites, but it's not a case of style over substance, as the app is extremely practical for bettors.  

How We Rank Rugby Betting Sites

Our team of betting insiders have a lengthy checklist to work through when reviewing rugby betting sites and below are the main things they are on the look out for when it comes to ranking an online bookmaker. 

Keep some of these factors in mind when looking at rugby betting odds online and deciding where to place a bet.

Rugby League Vs Rugby Union

When it comes to betting on rugby, there's a growing number of events being priced up by bookmakers. Here's a look at the top competitions in both codes, their format and when they run.

Rugby League

The world’s premier club competitiond in rugby league are the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australasia and Super League in Europe.

The NRL sees Australia’s and New Zealand’s top 17 sides go head-to-head to lift the Provan-Summons Trophy. The season typically runs from March to October with the top eight sides at the end of the regular season advancing to the finals series.

Super League runs between February and October and involves 12 teams from France and England. The top six teams in the table at the end of the season move on to the play-offs to decide the champions, while the side that finishes bottom of the standings is relegated to the second tier. 

The winners of the NRL and Super League titles then meet at the start of the following season in the World Club Challenge to decide the best club side on the planet. There are women's versions of both the NRL and Super League.

Perhaps the biggest non-international rugby league event is the State of Origin, a best-of-three series contested only between the Australian states of New South Wales and Queensland.

The Rugby League World Cup is held every four years. The next edition, which will be staged in 2026, will feature a reduced number of teams, down from 16 to 10.

Rugby Union

Rugby union is more widespread than league, and as such, there are more domestic competitions to watch and bet on. In the southern hemisphere, the top club competition is Super Rugby, consisting of 12 teams from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. 

The Super Rugby season tends to run from February to June with the top eight sides advancing to the finals with a grand final to crown the winner.

In the northern hemisphere, the Top 14 in France, England's Premiership and the United Rugby Championship (URC) are the three top tournaments. All three leagues tend to run from September til the following June and have play-off systems to decide the winners.

The Top 14 and Premiership are only contested by teams from France and England, respectively, but the URC features sides from Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Italy and South Africa. 

All three domestic leagues also compete in the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup competitions, with only the elite sides from each league the previous season qualifying for the former.

In international rugby union, the Six Nations is held every year in Europe between England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy, while the Rugby Championship pits New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina against one another.

The Rugby World Cup takes place every four years and will next be held in Australia in 2027.

What's The Difference Between Betting On Rugby Union & Rugby League?

Rugby union and rugby league may seem similar on the surface, but do a bit of digging and you'll quickly establish they are very different sports. The same goes for betting on rugby with some key variations to be aware of if you are planning to wager on both codes.

While the average margin of victory in both the NRL and Super Rugby is around 14 points, it would still be a mistake to apply the same betting strategy to both codes. Here's why:

Popular Rugby Betting Markets

Despite the many differences between rugby union and rugby league, there are many overlaps when it comes to their popular betting markets.

Below are some of the most common markets you'll find for both codes.

• Outright winner: Picking an overall winner for a tournament or competition is often referred to as an outright bet. Rugby World Cup outright markets are always a popular choice with punters in the years building up to the tournament.
• To win: The simplest rugby bet you can place. With a to-win punt, you simply back the team you think will win a match. You can usually also choose a draw, but stalemates are uncommon in both league and union. The best rugby betting sites even allow you to combine your win bets with other wagers from the same game multi bet.
• Winning margin: If the to-win odds don't offer much value, you can always bet on the margin of victory for one side. There are usually plenty of options to choose from when it comes to winning margin punts, so if you think it's going to be close you can back one team to triumph by one to 12 points. Or if you think one side is vastly superior, you might back them to win by 41-45 points. The smaller the margin you choose, the larger the odds will be.
• Handicap betting: Another way punters bridge the gap when two teams are mismatched. In a handicap bet, the favourite will need to win by a certain number of points or an underdog has to avoid losing by a certain number of points for the bet to be successful.
• Tryscorer: One of the beauties of rugby is that you know the starting line-up well in advance, making the tryscorer market extremely popular among rugby bettors. You can wager on a player to score a try at any point in a game, or back them at bigger odds to score the first or last try in a match.

How Does Handicap Betting In Rugby Work?

To a new rugby bettor, handicap or spread betting markets can seem confusing. But understanding how to place a handicap bet is one of the fundamentals to betting on either code and once you've got a handle on it, it can open up more betting possibilities. 

The basics of a handicap bet are the team that's favourites to win the match will be handed a virtual disadvantage of starting on minus points, while the underdogs will get an advantage by starting on plus points. The number will be the same, only one team will get minus that amount and one team will get plus that amount.

For a bet on the favourites to be successful, they'll need to win the match by more than the handicap they've been given, while a bet on the underdogs will land if they win the game outright, draw or lose by less than their handicap. Here's an example.

New Zealand are facing Australia in the Bledisloe Cup. The All Blacks start with a minus 22-point handicap, with the Wallabies getting a plus 22-point advantage. At the end of the game, the final score is New Zealand 38-7 Australia. 

In this scenario, a bet on New Zealand on the handicap would win because they won the game by more than 22 points. By taking away the points Australia scored from New Zealand's score, you can see the All Blacks won by 31 points.

If the final score had been New Zealand 38-29 Australia, any handicap bets on the All Blacks would have lost as they only won by nine points (38-29=9). 

The same principle applies to handicap betting on any sport, including basketball and football betting, where handicap betting is also popular.

The Best Rugby Betting Sites – Final Verdict

The aim of this article is to give you all the information you need to make an informed decision on which betting site to choose when you want to bet on rugby. All the rugby betting sites we've listed are licensed and legally cleared to offer their services to punters in New Zealand, and we'd never recommend an unlicensed bookmaker.

Our gambling experts have highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of each bookmaker when it comes to rugby betting, but there are in-depth reviews on each betting site should you require more information. 

Make sure to bookmark this page as we will regularly update our rankings and provide information on the latest rugby betting offers.