The final round of pool matches takes place in the U20 World Rugby Championship on Tuesday and we take a look at the 6 games from a betting angle.
Let’s start with a look at the Outright Betting where France have firmed in to 1/1 favourites ahead of Ireland at 9/4. You can get 11/2 England, 8/1 the Baby Boks and 14/1 New Zealand with the balance available at 33/1 and better.
Click here for U20 World Rugby Championship Outright Betting
Italy v Georgia – Click here to bet
Handicap: Italy -4.5
Italy are currently 2nd behind Argentina in Pool C with only points difference separating them and 3rd place South Africa are also on 5 points with Georgia on 4 so this is an extremely competitive group and any of the 4 teams could still in theory top the log.
Italy were well beaten in their opening game against Argentina, but they caused a big upset when they beat the Boks 34-26 in atrocious conditions in their last match.
Georgia were beaten by the Boks in their opener, but they turned in an excellent performance beating Argentina 20-0 to keep themselves alive in the Competition.
Both of these teams have punched above their weight in my opinion, but I was super impressed with Italy against South Africa and I am going to back them to beat this handicap.
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Italy -4.5 at 19/20
Ireland v Fiji – Click here to bet
Handicap: Ireland -37.5
Ireland are 2nd on their group behind England who they drew to in the opening match. Both sides are on 8 points with England having a 26 point superior points difference. Ireland know what they have to do and that is to give Fiji an absolute hammering and hope that England either lose to Australia or don’t score enough points to go back ahead of Ireland on the log.
Fiji are out of contention having pushed Australia hard in their opener only to get hammered by England in wet conditions.
A hungry Ireland side should be able to beat what is admittedly a very big handicap.
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Ireland -37.5 at 19/20
Australia v England – Click here to bet
Handicap: Australia +9.5
This game kicks off half an hour after the Ireland/Fiji game and England will be keeping an eye on that one, but will certainly start the match assuming they need a big win against Australia.
Australia for their part could in theory still make the last 4, but they would need slip ups from other teams in other pools.
The handicap has been set at 9.5 here and I think that England will win this one by a double figure margin.
Suggested Bet: Handicap, England -9.5 at 9/10
New Zealand v Japan – Click here to bet
Handicap: New Zealand -33.5
There is a good chance that New Zealand will be unable to secure a semi-final spot by the time this game kicks off. They will be desperately be hoping that Australia can beat England to keep them in with a chance. Their opening game was a narrow 1 point win over Wales and they were then well beaten by France in their 2nd match.
Japan were hammered by the French in their opener and fought hard against Wales before letting things slip in the final quarter when they were down to 14 men.
It may pay to wait and see whether New Zealand are still in with a chance of qualifying before betting, but either way you look at it I think they are going to hammer a very weak Japanese team.
The handicap is set at 34 points, but I am going to back New Zealand to score 52 points or more.
Suggested Bet: New Zealand, Total Points over 51.5 at 9/10
France v Wales – Click here to bet
Handicap: France -29.5
France only need to win this game to finish top not only of their group, but also of the overall log. They beat Japan by 63 points in their opener and then put the New Zealanders to the sword with a 35-14 win in their second match.
Wales pushed New Zealand going down 26-27 in their opening game and they were then pushed hard by Japan before drawing clear to win 41-19.
My preference here is for the French half-time handicap because I think they are going to get the job done early and may step off the gas, but I am still confident they can beat the 80 minute cap and will take an interest in that at this point.
Suggested Bet: Handicap, France -29.5 at 19/20
South Africa v Argentina – Click here to bet
Handicap: South Africa -7.5
South Africa and Argentina have a massive advantage over Italy and Georgia in that they know what will be required for them to finish top of the log. The Baby Boks have named their strongest side, but neither their opening performance against Georgia or their loss to Italy was particularly impressive although by the same token Argentina were very poor against Georgia having hammered Italy 43-15 in the opener. It must be remembered though that Italy were down to 14 men for most of the match.
I think this is going to be a high scoring match and there is every chance that both teams may need to win with a bonus point to top the log.
Suggested Bet: Total Points over 58.5 at 19/20
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
