Betting Online On Rugby Union In Africa
Rugby Union is a hugely popular sport in South Africa and across both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
With club Rugby taking place across the globe each year, we have the potential to place numerous wagers and have a great opportunity to win money across the whole year.
This article will act as a guide to online betting on Rugby Union, detailing the different competitions taking place, the most popular betting markets for you to take advantage of, and the best African sports betting sites, too.
Best Betting Sites For Rugby Union 2024
Rugby Union Betting Competitions
There are a number of elite competitions that take place around the world each year, and of course the World Cup every four years. We will highlight a number of top competitions that punters like to bet on below.
- Guinness Pro14 – this is a competition that takes place annually and now includes teams from South Africa, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. The four South African teams (Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers) joined the Pro14 in 2021 following their withdrawal from the Super 15.
- Gallagher Premiership Rugby – this is the professional Rugby Union competition based in England.
- Top 14 – this is another elite professional Rugby Union league that takes place in France and is one of the best in the world.
- World Cup – the pinnacle of most professional Rugby Union players' careers. Everyone who plays Rugby Union wants to hoist the Webb Ellis Cup. The World Cup takes place every four years, held in different countries across the world. The current holder of the cup in South Africa - will they be able to repeat this great achievement again this year?
Popular Betting Markets
With sportsbooks offering over 100 markets on Rugby Union, we have ample opportunity to place winning bets each gameday. A list of the most popular online sports betting markets is mentioned below.
- To Win – who will win the upcoming game outright.
- Handicap – bookmakers set a specific handicap for each team depending on what they think the final score will be. The favourite will have a negative handicap and will have to win the game by that number of points. The underdog will have a positive handicap allowing them to lose the game by a margin below that handicap, and they can also win the game outright too for your bet to win.
- Total Points Scored – you will have the choice of betting on over (or under) a total number of points scored in the game by both teams.
- Total Number of Tries – here you can place wagers on the total number of tries scored by both teams combined and also for each team.
- 1st Half Markets – sportsbooks have now started offering the markets above but dedicated to the 1st half only.
If you would like to know more about these markets or find out about other intriguing and less popular ones (which have a lot of value), we have an article dedicated to the different Rugby Union bet types here at Africa-Casinos.
Tips On How To Win Betting On Rugby
There are a number of tips and tricks that will help you to determine winners when betting on Rugby Union. We will go through a few of these to help you on your way. If you require more strategic details, then please refer to our Rugby Union strategy guide.
Researching a team’s current form is the first step to choosing winning bets. You should look into how each team is performing both home and away (depending on where their next game will be played) and see if one of them has an advantage. Some teams perform incredibly well at home, but they are not as good away from home. You can also see how many points have been scored in recent games and how well each team does to cover the handicap. Gaining an insight into each part above will help you to narrow down which market to choose to place your next bet on.
Please also be aware of the current injury lists for each team. If a star player is out because of injury, then that team may be at a disadvantage and their performance may dip without that player on the field. Rugby Union is a team game played with 15 players, so one absentee may not be too detrimental, but if a number of players are out, this could definitely have a negative impact. Waiting until the line-ups are announced will be your best way to determine who is definitely out of the game.
Ins and Outs Of Rugby Union Betting
When betting on Rugby Union online, there are a number of things to take into consideration prior to placing your wagers.
You will need to sign up for the right sportsbook which offers free bets, a variety of bet types, and the best odds. Each sportsbook has its own odds setter, so they do vary from book to book. You need one which offers the best odds so that you can increase your pay-outs, even if it is an extra few Rand. It is also important to pick a sportsbook that provides a large number of markets for each game. The rising popularity of betting on Rugby Union online has led to sportsbooks creating more markets for us bettors. If you need help in choosing a sportsbook, we have an excellent deep dive into the best ones available to South African bettors - make sure to check out our list of sports betting sites reviews.
You should also start with smaller wagers until you are happy with the markets and you are hitting a good win percentage. Then you can start to raise the stakes and start placing more money on each bet, but make sure it is only what you can afford to lose.
