Six Nations Betting League - Round 1 standings
There are three clear leaders after round one of The Rugby Blog Betting League, with ‘kelvinlittle’ streaking ahead into triple figures.
The England defeat at Fortress Twickenham obviously caught a few people by surprise, although there are 9 people with an account balance of £10 - they obviously thought the first round was too hard to call!
Don’t forget to place your bets for Round 2, which sees France take on Ireland, Wales versus Scotland and Italy host England in Rome - there is still a long way to go!
Account balances are shown to the nearest pound. Click on the table to see leaderboard in full.
Heineken Cup Quarter Finals
The Heineken Cup quarter finals will take place over the weekend of 4th, 5th and 6th April with the fixtures as follows:
Saracens v Ospreys
London Irish v Perpignan
Gloucester v Munster
Toulouse v Cardiff Blues
Gloucester were lacklustre against Ulster on Sunday, leaking tries and not looking too convincing - they will need to raise their game as they welcome Munster. The Irishmen took the defending champions apart on Saturday, with Ronan O’Gara expertly playing the conditions.
London Irish will face their familiar Pool 1 foes in the shape of Perpignan, whilst Saracens will tackle the Ospreys. New tournament favourites, Toulouse, take on Cardiff, the other Welsh side remaining in the competition. Sadly, no Scottish teams qualified for the latter stages.
Toulouse are now available at about 4/1 (best odds at Betfair), Gloucester are at 5/1 with Boylesports, as are Munster at Betfred, whilst the Ospreys are at 9/1, also with Betfred.
Join the Six Nations Betting League - updated with new prizes!
Join The Rugby Blog’s Six Nations Betting League, where there is a top prize of £250, two Twickenham tickets and a host of other prizes up for grabs.
The Rugby Blog has teamed up with Betfair, official betting partner of the England rugby team, to bring you a competition to see who can win the most money by betting on the 2008 RBS 6 Nations.
To join the league, click here and register with Betfair and deposit £10 - you’ll even get a free £25 for playing the competition when you enter the code RBL608 - and then email me your username to ensure you are entered in the league.
Each week, you can bet on various markets in the Six Nations, such as first try-scorer and winning margin, and accumulate as much money as you can by the end of the tournament. The person with the most money after the final matches (you aren’t allowed to deposit any more than £10, and you can only bet on Six Nations markets*) will win the league.
We will track everyone’s progress each week and you can see how you are doing compared to your friends, so invite them to join up as well.
Prizes
All those entered in the competition by 31st January will go into a prize draw to win two tickets to the England v Barbarians match at Twickenham on June 1st. The other prizes will be awarded to those that make the most money.
We have also had the following additional prizes donated:
4th prize - 4 weekend passes (with camping) to the Bournemouth Sevens
5th prize - framed Rugby print from Devoted to Sport
6th prize - your choice of any item of clothing from Front Up
Those in 7th to 10th place will receive a T-Shirt from the I Want a Match of the Day for Rugby campaign
By entering, you agree to the Terms & Conditions, which are pretty standard but follow the link if you’d like to read them.
*Only applies for the duration of this competition.
What price an England win?
When England check in to their headquarters in Versailles this week, they will be in the unique position as being touted as the first World Cup holders to be given no chance of retaining their crown. Despite head coach Brian Ashton insisting that his players will use the criticism as motivation, history shows that no side has ever successfully defended their World Cup title.
The universal dismissal of England’s World Cup chances has sparked interest amongst the betting community and England was quoted last week as sixth favourites behind the All Blacks, hardly surprising given their results over the last four years. So are they worth a fiver? The odds would suggest, probably. Five bookies including Ladbrokes and Boylesports are backing England at 33-1, the longest-priced holders in World Cup history.
Other attractive offers include Australia at 12-1 with the likes of Coral and Betfred, Ireland at 28-1 with Stan James, France at 7-1 with Betfred, VCBet and totesport and South Africa at 7-1 with WBX. For the more adventurous, you can grab Scotland at 500-1, Samoa at 1,000-1 and newcomers, Portugal at 10,000-1!
At www.therugbyblog.co.uk we’ll be following the form as the tournament progresses, but for now I’m going to stick a fiver on Jonny, Jason and Josh repeating history and the rest I’m afraid to say is going on the French.
Boylesports is actually offering free £100 bets for anyone that registers, as well as a refund on all losing bets on your team if they are beaten by New Zealand in the final.
Jon Stainer, Business Editor
Rugby World Cup betting - update
With New Zealand looking a bit shaky following an unconvincing win in South Africa, and defeat in Australia, betting for the Rugby World Cup is opening up.
The All Blacks remain favourites at 4/9, with South Africa at 11/2. However, England at 33/1 looks like the best bet at the moment with Paddy Power - an each way bet that they reach the final could be a good option, and fits well with my unwavering patriotism!
Rugby World Cup betting
Now is the time to place a bet on South Africa to win the World Cup. The Rugby Blog maintains that the Springboks will beat New Zealand in the Tri-Nations this weekend, and when they do, the odds on them lifting the Webb Ellis Cup will shorten dramatically.
Extrabet is offering the best odds at 13/2, but I’ve opened an account with Betfred who will reimburse your first bet - so basically it’s free! If you open an account, then put a tenner on South Africa to win the World Cup, you’ll get the tenner back within a couple of days (and at odds of 11/2, you’ll win £65).
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