Love rugby? Want to learn more about how to bet on rugby? We’ve got all you need to know in our comprehensive guide to rugby betting. We’ll explain how rugby betting works, the bets you can place and throw in a few rugby betting tips too.
Rugby Union vs. Rugby League
First, let’s start with the difference between rugby union and rugby league.
Rugby Union Explained
- Rugby union is played with 15 players on each team, with a maximum of seven substitutions able to be made.
- A try in rugby union is worth five points with an extra two for a conversion.
- Drop goals and penalties are each worth three points.
- When a player is tackled, they must release the ball and it’s legal for any player to pick it up.
- When the ball goes out of play, it is restarted with a line out.
- Scrums are awarded for minor infringements like knock-ons.
Rugby League Explained
- Rugby league is played with 13 players, with a total of 10 subs able to be made.
- A try in rugby league is worth four points with an extra two for a conversion.
- Drop goals are worth one point and penalties two points.
- When a player is tackled, they must roll it back with their foot to a teammate.
- In rugby league, each team has six chances to score – if they get tackled six times without scoring, they must kick the ball away towards the opposition.
- If the ball goes out of play, it is restarted with a scrum. A scrum is also used for minor rule infringements.
Rugby Betting Odds Explained
When you bet on rugby with us at Grosvenor Sport, you’ll see the odds displayed as fractional odds. Each outcome within a betting market will have odds next to it. Take the example of Australia winning the Rugby World Cup with odds of 4/1.
If you place a £10 bet on Australia winning and the Wallabies triumph, you will win 4x your bet and get your stake back. In this example, your total winnings would be £40 plus your £10 bet, so you’ll have £50 in your betting account.
This is a super simple example. In reality things get a little more complicated with varying odds and multiple bets. Our bet calculator is the best way to calculate your winnings.
Main Rugby Betting Types
When it comes to betting on rugby, you have plenty of options to choose from. Popular rugby bets include:
Outright Results Betting
An outright bet is a bet on the result of a competition. With an outright bet in rugby, you’ll wager on a particular team to win a competition. It could be England in the Six Nations or Leicester in Premiership Rugby.
Each team in the competition or tournament has outright odds on their chance of winning, which change in line with their results and form in the competition. You can make an outright bet at the start of a tournament or at any time throughout.
Accumulators
With an accumulator, or Acca, you bet on four or more different outcomes. For example, you can bet on the result of four separate matches in Premiership rugby. Your odds are calculated by multiplying the prices from each selection – and the more bets you add the higher the potential payout. You can work out your odds on any potential accumulator bets with our bet calculator.
With accumulators, you only win on your bet if all of your bets come in. Even if only one fails to win, you lose everything.
Half-time/Full-time
For a Half-time/Full-time bet, you’re betting on both the match result at half-time and the result at the final whistle. For your bet to come in, you need both results to be as you predicted. It’s not enough to get just one right.
Try Scorer
You have three main options for betting on try scorers in rugby:
- First try scorer – the player to score the first try in the match
- Last try scorer – the player to score the last try in the match
- Anytime try scorer – a player to score a try at any time in the match
You can also bet on “no try scorer” where you think no tries will be scored in the match at all.
Handicap Betting
Where one team is the favourite and another is the underdog, handicap betting gives you a chance to even things out with your wager.
Say New Zealand is playing a lower ranked team like Portugal in the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks might be expected to steamroll the opposition. Handicap betting makes the outcome a little harder for them. For example, the All Blacks could be given a handicap of -13.5 points. If you bet on them to win, they would need to do so by 14 points or more. Similarly, Portugal could be given an advantage of +13.5. If you backed Portugal and they lost by less than 13 points, you would still win your bet.
Finding the Best Odds for Rugby Bets
When you want to bet on rugby, you’ll find different bookmakers online with varying odds. At Grosvenor Sport, we believe we have some of the most comprehensive rugby betting markets anywhere online. Plus, we work hard to bring you competitive odds across all the top competitions in the rugby calendar – both rugby union and rugby league.
Our team of experts continually analyses the form of teams and individual players, and watches encounters from across the world to bring you some of the best rugby odds you’ll find online. Simply sign up to an account to bet on rugby with Grosvenor Sport today.
Major Rugby Events to Bet On
So, now you have an idea of the difference between rugby union and rugby league, and the types of rugby bets you can make, let’s look at some of the top rugby events to bet on.
Rugby World Cup
The Rugby World Cup features 20 teams and 48 matches to crown the champions of the world in rugby union. It takes place every four years with the most recent event in France in 2023. The teams are split into four pools of five teams, before the top two from each pool head to the quarter finals. It’s pure knockout rugby from here on in.
At Grosvenor Sport, you’ll find the full range of rugby union betting markets for the Rugby World Cup. You can bet outright on the winner of the tournament, bet on individual matches, place Accas across multiple outcomes at the same time, and more.
Six Nations
Held every February and March, the Six Nations sees England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy battle it out to finish top of the table and take the title. Each team plays each other once in a league format. The team with the most points takes the title (and the Grand Slam if they win all their matches) and the team at the bottom takes the wooden spoon.
We have the full range of rugby betting markets for the Six Nations whenever it rolls around each year.
Champions Cup
The European Rugby Champions Cup is an annual tournament for the top teams in Europe. It features sides from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales – as well as now South Africa – with qualification based on league positions from the season before.
The 24 teams initially face off in the group stage, before we go into the knockout stages. With Grosvenor Sport, you can bet on the outright winner and you’ll find the full range of match betting markets for every encounter across the competition.
Challenge Cup
The EPCR Challenge Cup is the second-tier European competition in rugby union. It features 18 teams battling it out across a group stage and knockout stages. You’ll find the full range of rugby union betting markets for the Challenge Cup with us at Grosvenor Sport.
Betting Strategies for Rugby Bets
Keen to place some wagers on rugby? Here are a few rugby betting tips to help you out.
Study the current form of teams:
Fancy a bet on the winner of the Six Nations? It’s important to look at how the teams are shaping up ahead of the tournament. Are Wales missing some key players? Have England put a recent run of wins together? It will all factor into the potential outcome.
Study the historical form:
Current form isn’t everything. Past performances for teams on certain grounds may have an impact on how they get on this time around.
Consider the style of play:
How certain teams play can affect the potential result and the bets to make. For example, if both teams tend to adopt a defensive kicking game, tries may be in short supply. Betting markets to focus on could be first penalty scorer and total number of points scored by a kicker.
Look to the experts:
There are plenty of experts online giving you their rugby betting tips ahead of the top encounters. You’ll find some at Grosvenor Sport on our blog too. The experts tend to know their stuff, so it’s a good idea to bring this into your rugby betting strategy.
Look at the data:
Can you analyse the data to understand how certain players play at specific grounds and against specific opposition? There is plenty of data out there, try and use it to your advantage.
Know when to stop:
It’s important to set a limit on your rugby betting and know when it’s time to stop.
Now you know the nuts and bolts of betting on rugby, check out our rugby betting markets and odds at Grosvenor Sport. Create an account with us or sign in to your existing account and you can bet on rugby with us. We’ll even throw in a welcome bonus for new customers when you make your first deposit.