World Cup 2019: betting guide to the pools for the tournament in Japan

The Rugby World Cup kicks off on September 20, and the start of a shortened Rugby Championship on Saturday marks the beginning of a two-month countdown to the tournament in Japan.

Holders New Zealand along with Australia, South Africa and Argentina will play each other just once in the Rugby Championship this summer rather than the usual home-and-away format.

The Pacific Nations Cup kicks off on July 27 comprising Fiji, Tonga, Samoa, Japan, USA and Canada, who play three matches each, and then in August the European teams begin a series of warm-ups.

The two-month build-up can be something of a phoney war but here are some of the serious battles that await when the 20 teams converge in Japan.

Pool A
1-4 Ireland, 7-2 Scotland, 25 Japan, 200 Samoa, 300 Russia
Japan produced the biggest shock in Rugby World Cup history when they beat South Africa in their opening pool match in 2015, but this section will surely be decided by the showdown between Ireland and Scotland on the opening Sunday.

Ireland are nine-point favourites for that match in Yokohama and have won six of the last seven meetings between the two, most recently a 22-13 Six Nations success at Murrayfield in February.

Topping the pool will be crucial as the runners-up face the winners of Pool B, in all likelihood New Zealand, although the pool winners won’t have it easy in a probable clash with South Africa.

Ireland are 7-1 third-favourites for the World Cup but have never been beyond the quarter-finals.

Pool B
1-7 New Zealand, 11-2 South Africa, 300 Italy, 750 Canada, 1,000 Namibia
Again, the pool favourites meet on the opening weekend and it’s impossible to make a case for any of the three outsiders.

Namibia have appeared at the last five World Cups but never won a match, Canada lost all four pool matches in 2015 while Italy have never gone beyond the pool stage.

South Africa are one of just three nations to have beaten New Zealand since the last World Cup, winning 36-34 in Wellington in last year’s Rugby Championship, but it will be important to assess the strength of both teams for that clash as both coaches are likely to rotate their squad over the summer.

The All Blacks are 11-point favourites for the match in Yokohama on September 21, a repeat of the 2015 semi-final at Twickenham which New Zealand won 20-18 in a far more convincing manner than the scoreline suggests.

Pool C
8-15 England, 4 France, 5 Argentina, 250 Tonga, 500 USA
An intriguing section featuring three tier-one teams all with claims of reaching the knockout stages but also with doubts over them.

France are rated narrowly more likely to qualify than the Pumas but it would be no surprise to see those odds change as the tournament draws nearer.

Les Bleus won just two of 11 matches in 2018, and although one of those victories came against Argentina in the autumn, they also lost to Fiji the following week.

Argentina have reached the semi-finals in two of the last three World Cups and will be a team to watch through the Rugby Championship. BoyleSports go 1-6 that England qualify from the pool and offer 8-11 each about France and Argentina.

Pool D
10-11 Wales, 13-10 Australia, 66 Fiji, 500 Georgia, 1,000 Uruguay
Four years ago Wales were odds-against to qualify from a World Cup pool also featuring Australia plus hosts England, but made it through and came close to overcoming Australia, edged out 15-6 in a match where they exerted long spells of pressure.

Going in as Six Nations champions and with a record run of 14 victories behind them, including a 9-6 success over Australia in the autumn, Wales are rightly favourites.

They meet the Wallabies in Tokyo on September 29, six days after their opener against Georgia. Coach Warren Gatland will be mindful of their meeting with Georgia in November 2017 which they edged 13-6.

Key questions

Can anyone beat New Zealand?
Since retaining the World Cup in 2019 the All Blacks have lost five matches to four teams – to Ireland twice, to South Africa and Australia once each, and also to the British & Irish Lions.

The November defeat to Ireland, and also the one-point victory over England the week before when they came back from 15-0 down, plus the defeat and draw to the Lions, were all low-scoring games, and on two occasions New Zealand failed to score a try.

The All Blacks have ­reinvented World Cup rugby this decade, winning through ambitious attacking in contrast to the defence-led kicking game that worked for England and South Africa in 2003 and 2007.
Teams who try to take on the All Blacks by outscoring them have had limited success and opponents may well try instead to shut them down at source.

Will there be a World Cup bolter?
Fiji were the last tier-two team to reach the knockout stages in 2007 and they are the highest-ranked of the emerging sides, standing ninth.

But times have become much harder for the Pacific nations, above all in financial terms, while the USA and Canada have made big inroads on the Sevens scene but possibly to the ­detriment of the 15-man game.

Georgia and hosts Japan look the most progressive tier-two sides but they may decide ­finishing third and qualifying for 2023 is their priority.

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