Ireland vs England tips: Betting preview with odds & predictions for Rugby World Cup warm-up
Ireland vs England tips:
Ireland will look to give their supporters the perfect send-off this Saturday when they take on their arch rivals England in a Rugby World Cup warm-up encounter at the Aviva Stadium.
While the world No 1 ranked team will have a final run-out against Samoa before this autumn’s tournament in France, that game on 26 August is set to take place at Stade Jean-Dauger in Bayonne.
This weekend therefore represents the last opportunity for Irish punters to see their national side in action on home soil in 2023.
Their clashes with England have been nothing short of compelling in the past and while there aren’t Six Nations points at stake in Dublin, bookmakers are nevertheless seeing great interest in their match odds.
Ireland have turned things around in this fixture
When the two teams previously locked horns in a warm-up game four years ago, England came away with a convincing 57-15 victory at Twickenham Stadium.
They also got the better of Ireland in Six Nations fixtures either side of this comfortable triumph, before another win followed for England in the once-off Autumn Nations Cup at the end of 2020.
Yet the Green Army have had the measure of England across the last three Six Nations Championships with their most recent success in March helping them to secure a Grand Slam.
Whereas Ireland have continued to blossom under Andy Farrell’s watch – they have won 11 games on the trot, dating back to July of last year – his English counterpart Steve Borthwick has endured a difficult start to his reign.
England’s struggle for consistent form makes Ireland favourites
Drafted in to replace Eddie Jones last December, Borthwick recorded just two wins from five in this spring’s Six Nations. They also lost out to Wales in a warm-up game at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on 5 August, before gaining revenge on the same opposition in Twickenham last weekend.
Although he still has enough tools at his disposal to cause Ireland problems, the respective form of the two teams over the past 18 months means it is little surprise to see Borthwick’s side coming into this tie as underdogs.
At the time of writing, Unibet is offering odds of 1/10 on Ireland coming out on top at the Aviva. Most bookies are placing similar value on a home win and with a partisan crowd behind them, this will be the anticipated result on the day but there’s not much value in backing it.
Unibet are only viewing an England triumph as an 11/2 possibility. The longest odds you can get on a draw between these two teams – something that has happened just eight times across their 140 test meetings in the past – is a whopping 33/1.
Things could open in the second half at the Aviva
Games between Ireland and England can often be cagey affairs to begin with, before eventually opening up the longer the play progresses.
Five of the eight tries that the Irish have scored in the last two encounters with their cross-channel rivals have come in the second half, although that was certainly helped by the fact England had been reduced to 14 men on both occasions.
Saturday’s game could certainly take on a life of its own, but Betway are currently offering odds of 5/6 on the second half being the higher scoring of the two 40-minute periods.
They are also placing a similar value of 19/20 on the first half being the one with the greater frequency of scores, but it seems reasonable to expect that there will be more freedom afforded to the individual attacks after the resumption.
Tip: Second half to be the higher scoring half – 5/6 with Betway
Ireland vs England betting: Visitors given generous handicap
Meanwhile, for those who are interested in looking at handicaps for the weekend’s game, some of our recommended new betting sites are offering the best odds.
At the time of writing, BetUK are offering 17/20 on England with +14.5 head start. Whatever happens in the Aviva, the hope is that it will provide a spectacle that will whet the appetite of both sets of supporters in advance of the World Cup.
England have already selected their squad for the tournament – although an injury to Jack van Poortvliet has forced them into one change – but Ireland’s performance could well be fuelled by the fact that some places are still up for grabs in their set-up.
Nonetheless, England should have enough to avoid getting trounced, so the handicap markets are the best form of betting support for Borthwick’s side.