What Are The Odds On Scotland To Win The Rugby World Cup?
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Their World Cup campaign remain very much alive, but with considerable obstacles in the way, Scotland are seen as rank outsiders by the best betting sites in the race for tournament glory.
Following an opening weekend defeat to defending champions South Africa, the Scots gave themselves a fighting chance of progressing from Pool B with consecutive bonus point triumphs over Tonga and Romania.
In the latter game, Gregor Townsend’s men crossed over for 12 converted tries and eventually sauntered towards an 84-0 success.
A Six Nations Grand Slam winner with the Ireland U20s in 2019, Ben Healy amassed an impressive tally of 27 points in his World Cup debut for Scotland – for whom he qualifies through his mother.
Like his father, Healy originally hails from Tipperary in Ireland and it is the Green Army who will provide the opposition for the Scots at Stade de France in Saint-Denis this Saturday.
As a result of their last two games, Scotland are currently third in the Pool B table - five points adrift of South Africa and four behind Ireland.
Scotland Still Have A Shot At Knockout Rounds Going Into Ireland Game
There are various permutations that could come into play this weekend, but Townsend’s troops are certain to reach the last-eight if they win by a minimum of eight points and deny Ireland a try-bonus.
This is easier said than done, of course, with the Irish finding themselves on a winning streak that stands at 16 matches and having an excellent recent record in this fixture.
Scotland were unfortunate to be put in a pool that included South Africa and Ireland (the reigning World Cup and Six Nations champions respectively) and despite their fifth-place status in the world rankings, it was always going to be difficult for them to achieve a top-two finish.
Yet their challenge isn’t to be dismissed lightly and with the majority of their frontline stars (such as the mercurial Finn Russell) getting a rest for the Romania game, they will embark on this weekend’s game with a fresh and renewed vigour.
Scotland Not Seen As Likely World Cup Candidates
It is certainly not implausible that Scotland could qualify for the knockout phase of the tournament, but with their future in the World Cup far from certain, it comes as no surprise that they are a distant ninth in the betting as an outright winner in France.
Nestled behind fellow outsiders England, Wales, Argentina and Fiji, the Scots are currently an incredible 100/1 with the best betting sites for rugby union to win this year’s World Cup.
William Hill have gone shorter on them at 66/1, but the consensus is that Scotland aren’t contenders for a Webb Ellis Cup triumph.
This isn’t a reflection on the quality of their squad and the form they are in - though it is 32 years since they made it into the last-four of the tournament - more so on the fact that they were placed on the tougher side of the draw.
Tough Test Ahead In Event That Scots Make The Knockouts
Even if they managed to make it through to the quarter-final, it seems likely that either host nation France or three-time champions New Zealand will await them.
England and Wales, on the other hand, have already booked their last-eight spots on the opposite side and are at much lower odds for a World Cup success.
If you look from a betting perspective at the prospect of them making it into the quarter-finals, the best value on Scotland progressing this far is 8/1 with 10Bet.
In stark contrast, the odds on the Scots not reaching the quarter-final is a virtually unbackable 1/50.
To illustrate how little faith UK bookmakers have in Townsend’s charges making the knockout rounds, Italy at 1/100 are the only remaining contenders to be given longer odds by betting apps on reaching the final-eight.
Scotland will look to use this as motivation for Saturday’s game, but it is clear to see that even reaching the quarter-final of this World Cup will be viewed as a success story in itself.
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