World Cup 2023 Group B Betting Preview – Rugby Picks, Predictions and Odds
Rugby World Cup 2023 Betting Predictions – Group B
Rugby World Cup 2023 kicks off in France on September 8th and Rugby betting expert Kevin Dolan gives his thoughts on the various groups (pools), and where the betting value lies in respect to who will come out on top and progress through to the knockout rounds.
Pool B has rightly been dubbed the group of death for this year’s tournament, consisting of three-time winners and current holders South Africa, #1 world-ranked side Ireland, #5 world-ranked side Scotland, and rounded out by two decent teams in Romania and Tonga respectively in what should be a very competitive group overall.
Below we’ll go over each team’s odds to win the group and who we expect to progress through to the knockout rounds.
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| Group B Countries | Odds to Win Group B (DraftKings) |
|---|---|
| Ireland | -120 |
| South Africa | +125 |
| Scotland | +700 |
| Tonga | +15000 |
| Romania | +100000 |
Ireland (-120)
Ireland are the slight favorites to top Pool B ahead of this year’s World Cup and it’s easy to see why as the Irish have been on a monster run over the last couple of years, rightly earning their spot as the #1 team in the world right now.
The Irish not only beat the All-Blacks in New Zealand for the first time last year, they also did the double over them as well, beating them in back-to-back games to firmly solidify themselves as the strongest force in world rugby currently.
Those victories were followed up by wins against South Africa and Australia respectively, along with a picking up a coveted Grand Slam in March’s Six Nations also, only their 4th ever, a tournament in which the Irish comfortably beat both France, England and the aforementioned Scotland as well, which should provide a huge momentum builder heading into this year’s World Cup tournament.
What makes the Irish so dangerous right now is both their ability to retain possession and their lightning-quick ruck speed also, being able to get the ball out wide far quicker than any other opposing team in this year’s Six Nations tournament, which makes their attacks so difficult to defend against.
With world-class players in the likes of James Ryan, Josh van der Flier, and Dan Sheehan, Ireland are very much-deserved favorites to finish top of Pool B despite the obvious strength of their competitors.
South Africa (+125)
The current world cup holders and all-time record winners (tied with New Zealand) will probably feel a little disrespected going in as only the second favorites to win this group.
However, with Ireland coming out on top in both of their recent test matches, along with winning four of their last six head-to-head matchups as well, it’s understandable why the Springboks have been dropped a couple of points heading into September’s eagerly anticipated finals.
That said, South Africa definitely shouldn’t be underestimated here given their strong historic form in this tournament, plus the fact that in players such as Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, and RG Snyman, South Africa have some of the best players in the world on their day, especially in that second row where they’ve shown themselves to be especially deadly.
South Africa do have some injury concerns heading into this tournament however, none more so than the two aforementioned players of Etzebeth and Snyman, with the Springboks also having come out of the blocks a little bit slow across recent tournaments as well.
The Springboks got turned over by both New Zealand and Japan in their World Cup opening games in 2019 and 2015 respectively, and barely escaped with a win against Wales in 2011 also, edging them out 17-16 in Wellington.
So the Springboks definitely need to correct those slow starts and remain switched on here as they face a really tough test in their opening game against Scotland this time around.
Scotland (+700)
For a top five world ranked side to be listed at these kinds of odds just goes to highlight the kind of quality on offer elsewhere in Pool B, and Scotland will no doubt lament the fact that they’re in such a hard group ahead of this year’s tournament.
That said, Scotland most definitely has the talent to make this group interesting and secure qualification from this pool also, providing they can play to their strengths, with that opening game against South Africa in Marseille no doubt playing a pivotal role in determining that.
However, South Africa have won seven straight test matches against the Scottish, including 14 of the last 15 as well, so Scotland will definitely need to be best prepared if they’re going to secure that opening day victory.
That said, the Scots should be laser-focused ahead of this one as they say goodbye to their all-time record try scorer Stuart Hogg who will retire at the end of this year’s tournament.
Finn Russell, Darcy Graham, and Jamie Ritchie also provide a ton of threat for this Scottish team out wide, and provided they can overcome that initial hurdle against a strong South African side in their opening game, this is a team with the ability to go deep in this year’s competition given their current roster.
Tonga (+15000) & Romania (+100000)
Rounding out the bottom of the group sees Romania and Tonga, both top 20 world-ranked sides currently, but vastly out of their depth in terms of realistically competing in this pool as they come up against some of the competition favorites.
Romania have enjoyed something of a resurgence over the last year or so after dwindling somewhat after their famous 2015 World Cup victory over Canada.
With a fresh crop of players at their disposal including the likes of electric flanker Cristian Chirica, the Romanians do possess threat in attack, but with their opening two games in this year’s World Cup coming against Ireland and South Africa, the Oaks face an absolutely monumental challenge in even keeping those games competitive.
Tonga meanwhile are also a team enjoying somewhat of a renaissance right now, namely due to the fact of the recent 2021 eligibility change which makes it a lot easier for players from tier-one nations who aren’t getting regular starts, to switch to tier two providing they have at least one grandparent from there and a three-year stand-down period as well.
That’s led to Tonga acquiring some real world-class talent to their ranks from the likes of both New Zealand and Australia, which has bolstered the small Pacific island nation’s squad considerably heading into this year’s World Cup.
With new additions and former All-Blacks George Moala and Malakai Fekitoa likely starting at center for the Tongans, this is a team who could potentially surprise given they’ll have extra rest heading into game one.
That said, given the obvious strength of the top three teams above them in this group, it’s difficult to see the Tongans finishing better than 4th in Pool B.
Rugby World Cup 2023 Group B Final Standings Prediction
- Ireland
- South Africa
- Scotland
- Tonga
- Romania
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