Rugby is a very popular spectator sport in South Africa which in turn makes it a much sought after sport by South African punters. The sport is popular across the whole nation and will remain so since the country has won the Rugby World Cup several times and is a betting favourite on the SportsBet site. SportsBet offers both the fast-paced Rugby League games and the more staid but more popular Rugby Union games. Bets can be placed on International, Regional and Domestic League games from all the rugby playing nations including South Africa’s Springboks and the local teams, The Bulls, Lions, Sharks, Stormers, Cheetahs, Griquas and Pumas.
Internationally, SportsBet offers the Rugby World Cup, the Six Nations Cup, Pacific Nations Cup, the Sevens Rugby World Cup and continental club competitions such as the European Rugby Champions Cup, European Rugby Challenge Cup, Super Rugby and the Guinness Pro14. SportsBet also offers domestic leagues from England, France, New Zealand, Australia as well as our own South African cup and league games. From the French Pro14, English Gallagher Premiership, New Zealand Mitre 10, Australian National Rugby Championship to our own Currie Cup, SportsBet offers top tier rugby competitions down to minor leagues in all the rugby playing nations.
While Rugby Union is more popular, SportsBet offers Rugby League games too as they are well represented in England (Super League) and Australia (National Rugby League and Super Premiership) so punters can lay bets on these leagues and other minor leagues as well.
Can you make money from rugby betting?
SportsBet has a bonus of R10 free for each new sign up which a punter can use to lay Rugby bets. Large amounts can be won in rugby by taking multiple bets (accumulators) which can be a mixture of bets on games from any sport on offer, therefore, increasing chances of winning.
How do you bet on rugby matches?
Placing a rugby game bet
- Select the league from the homepage
- Select the desired game in the selected league fixture
- Scroll through the available markets and select the desired market
- On the market, select the desired option
- Enter the stake (amount of money to bet)
- View the potential payout and lay/confirm the bet
What is the best bet in rugby?
The single bet type that rugby punters most often play when betting on rugby
Rugby is a high scoring sport and can be a one-sided affair so to up the odds, bookmakers try to equalize the playing teams by using the Handicap. This is the most popular rugby market and is dynamic while the game is in play. Whenever a team scores some points, the Handicap changes and this makes the Handicap a popular Live In-play market as a punter will have to follow the game progress and lay the relevant Handicap accordingly.
Rugby betting terminology
Acronyms, slang, phrases or betting terminology used by rugby punters in South Africa.
Punters have several ways of referring to markets, bet types etc when placing bets. These are some of the terms they use and their explanations.
- What does “3 Way” in rugby mean?
3 Way is a rugby market where a punter can bet on a team to win or if the match will end in a draw (Match Result). This is often referred to as the Home/Draw/Away market and has 3 different outcomes. A draw in rugby is very uncommon and usually has high odds.
- What does “Handicap” in rugby mean?
The Handicap in Rugby is a way bookmakers try to equalize two teams by giving one team a prior advantage so that the favourite team has to score by a bigger margin for them to win the betting market. The favourite has to win by a certain number of points (negative Handicap) to be considered winners while the underdog just has to lose by a smaller margin to the Handicap to be considered the winner.
- What does “Money Line” in rugby mean?
The Money Line is a bet on who will win the match. It is valid for both Rugby Union and Rugby League matches. It can be 2-Way (Home / Away) or 3-Way (Home / Draw / Away), some bookmakers use the terms 2-Way or 3-Way market. It is the simplest type of betting that a punter can make.
Sports Bet Rugby Guide
How do rugby betting payouts work on Sports Bet?
A punter with a credit balance can withdraw their winnings at any time. Once a withdrawal has been requested, SportsBet will determine if the punter is FICA (Financial Intelligence Centre Act) compliant and if so, the funds will be transferred to the punter’s bank account. It normally takes less than 3 working days for the punter to receive their funds.
What is a betting spread in rugby?
Rugby point spread betting is when a punter bets on whether a team will win or lose by a certain number of points. It allows the bookmaker to equalize uneven teams and to get more people to bet on the underdogs.
In this type of wager, the favourite is effectively deducted points and the underdog is awarded points. These adjustments in the points are referred to as the spread. This allows an equal amount of punters to bet on the favourite and on the underdog.
How do you read rugby odds on Sports Bet?
Punters must know how to read rugby betting odds before making any bet. Rugby odds show how much can be won from a successful bet. They also show how likely an event is to happen. SportsBet displays all its odds in decimal format.
Is it better to bet over or under?
The Over/Under market in Rugby depends mainly on the league and the teams playing. Some teams are very defensive so they tend to score lower total points but smaller leagues with faster-paced matches tend to score more. The weather also plays a vital role in determining the scoring rate of a particular match.
What is the most profitable online rugby betting strategy?
Research 3 common betting strategies for rugby.
Rugby by its nature has a lot of scoring and usually features lopsided opponents and that is why the Handicap market features heavily in Rugby. Knowledge of player fitness, game day weather and even the referee is a must to make informed bets on Rugby.
Betting on Ante-Post Markets
In a long ongoing competition, the relevant teams’ performance will be well known and documented so betting on Outright Winner or Top Scorer is a good strategy. In some tournaments, teams will play at home and away so the home advantage is also a factor in such a competition. In a round-robin tournament with group stages, a special note has to be taken on the constituent teams in the group.
Research the rugby teams before place a bet
A punter needs to know both teams performance as this can affect the outcome of the game and ultimately the punter’s betting success. Player fitness plays a bigger role in Rugby than any other team sport, so it pays to be aware of players’ health and fitness. The handicap market can be determined by a team’s playstyle, weather conditions and the match reward.
A team that kicks and runs a lot will be stymied by a team with strong backs hence the Handicap differential might prove difficult to cover.
Bad weather (rain and wind) also makes for a low scoring game, therefore, affecting the Handicap again.
When a team is playing a non-crucial (i.e. no motivation/reward) game, it may field second-string players and might not be as dominant as with its first-string players and this also affects the Handicap.
The referee in Rugby is very crucial as he determines game flow. Some referees stop and start the game frequently while others let the action flow. This can disrupt one team’s natural game play and make for lower scores.