With England currently available at understandably skinny odds of 1/2 and no each-way betting available as yet, interest from a betting point of view mainly comes from the round-by-round handicap match betting.
The first round of matches in the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021 take place this weekend, with three games on Saturday and three on Sunday, and with little competitive form for the layers to go on, or previous history between some of the teams, there could be some rich pickings to be had.
Looking at Saturday’s games, the one that has most appeal for us is the very first game of the tournament: South Africa v France .
France won the last meeting in 2021, 46-3, but the game was in Vannes so Les Bleues had home advantage, which they obviously don’t here with the tournament hosted in New Zealand.
Just as important is the fact that the Springbok Women have come on leaps and bounds in the last 12 months, and of all the 12 participating teams it is they who have picked up the most ranking points in the build-up, thanks to five wins from six in 2022.
Some of those were against their weaker African rivals but there were enough positives to take from other games, such as the historic win against Japan, for them to beat the handicapper (South Africa are +44 with Paddy Power).
The key will be how they start. France tend to get out of the blocks quickly and build a score so if the Springbok Women can catch France cold – opening matches to major tournaments always tend to be a little bit stop-start – then their backers could be quids in.
Playing England first up could be a rude awakening for World Cup debutants Fiji, despite their resurgence, and getting 56 points might just not be enough for the Pacific Islanders who should struggle to contain the Red Roses in the tight.
We expect New Zealand to rise to the occasion and comfortably beat Oceania rivals Australia, as they have done in most of their other encounters.
The Wallaroos have never got the better of the Blacks Ferns and whilst they are improving, there is still too big a gap between the teams to contemplate a surprise here.
New Zealand have won all 22 previous encounters with Australia, and while the Walloroos only lost 22-14 in Adelaide last time out, the story tends to be different on New Zealand soil.
The Black Ferns normally score freely in home Tests against Australia, who similarly have struggled to get into double figures, so -28 for the hosts is not unreasonable.
Which takes us on to Sunday and our pick of the weekend – Italy at +6 against a USA side that hasn’t really kicked on and if anything has gone backwards, since reaching the RWC 2017 semi-finals.
Italy, by contrast, are on an upward curve and go into the tournament ranked one place higher than the Women’s Eagles, thanks mainly to their outstanding win against France in the warm-up fixtures.
With an abundance of 50-plus cap players, Italy are the more experienced of the two squads and are also used to playing competitive fixtures on a more regular basis which should serve them in good stead for what appears to be a very tight Pool.
Canada, ranked third in the world, should have too much clout for Japan and ease past the -36 handicap mark with something to spare in the other Pool B fixture.
Meanwhile, Wales and Scotland appears to be on a knife-edge, but if push comes to shove we’d favour the girls in red to come out on top.
Scotland are improving but they still need to score more points against the better teams to get to the next level, whereas Wales, who have won 16 of the last 18 meetings, have one of the tournament’s x-factor players in Jaz Joyce, who can change a game in a split second with her searing pace.
Also, you cannot ignore what impact the tragic death of Siobhan Cattigan would’ve had on the Scotland squad. Emotionally they must be all over the place.
As for the overall picture, it would be a huge shock if after six weeks of action at the Women’s Rugby World Cup 2021, the Red Roses didn’t come home with the trophy.
Simon Middleton’s charges are further down the professional road than all other teams, including hosts New Zealand, have amassive lead at the top of the World Rugby Women’s Rankings and went to New Zealand on tbhe back of a 25-match record winning run.
They are as close to unstoppable as you can get.
