Wales Rugby World Cup Odds: Dragons An Outside Bet To Win Webb Ellis Cup
Wales have been Rugby World Cup semi-finalists on no fewer than three occasions, but with their form in the past couple of years leaving quite a bit to be desired.
That means the Welsh are now seen as rank outsiders for the forthcoming tournament in the eyes of UK betting sites.
After making the last-four in 1987 and 2011 – achieving a third-place finish in the former – Wales once again progressed to the penultimate round of the RWC in Japan just four years ago.
This followed a Six Nations Grand Slam success in the previous spring and brought the curtain down on Warren Gatland’s original spell as head coach of the side.
From there, Gatland returned to his native New Zealand, where he worked for the Chiefs under the initial guise of head coach and later Director of Rugby.
He also returned to his previous role at the helm of the British & Irish Lions for their Tour of South Africa in 2021.
Pivac Reign Went Downhill After Six Nations Victory In 2021
In the same year, his fellow compatriot Wayne Pivac guided Wales to a Six Nations title, which would have been a Grand Slam had it not been for Brice Dulin’s last-minute try in their final round reversal to France.
This appeared to give Pivac a platform to build on at the midway stage in a World Cup cycle, but things started to deteriorate over the following 12 months.
Having registered a five-game winning streak in advance of that French game, Wales went on to lose seven of their next 12 international tests.
The last of these was a Six Nations reversal to Italy in March 2022 – the Azzurri ending a run of 36 consecutive defeats in the Championship.
A subsequent summer tour of South Africa produced one win and two losses, before just one victory from four November internationals – and a historic first-ever defeat at the hands of Georgia – helped to seal Pivac’s fate.
Gatland Still Finding His Feet On Return To Wales Job
Then, three years on from his initial departure, Gatland made a dramatic return to the Wales fold in December 2022.
It is easy to see why the Welsh Rugby Union wanted a steady presence after a turbulent period, but the Kiwi has found it difficult to rediscover the form of old thus far.
For the third time in four seasons, Wales recorded just one win from five at this year’s Six Nations and were comfortably outperformed by Ireland, Scotland and France in their duels with them.
Although Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb all featured in their Championship campaign, this triumvirate have since retired from international duty.
Given they have picked up a combined 291 Welsh senior caps (and have also featured in test matches for the British & Irish Lions in the past), they are seismic losses to Gatland at a time when Wales are desperate for a reversal of fortunes.
Despite beginning their World Cup warm-up series with a 20-9 triumph over England in Cardiff, later defeats to England at Twickenham Stadium and a 52-16 hammering against South Africa in front of a partisan crowd at the Principality Stadium casts doubts over Wales’ ability to flick a switch in France.
Wales Remain Clear Outsiders For World Cup
Currently ranked 10th in the world – a massive drop from the number one spot they occupied for a period of time in 2019 – Wales are unsurprisingly not seen as viable contenders by best betting sites for rugby union for this World Cup.
While they are more than capable of progressing from a Pool C that contains Australia (who are also struggling for a resurgence under Eddie Jones), Fiji, Georgia and Portugal, there are eight teams that are regarded as more likely winners of the Webb Ellis Cup than the Welsh.
Even though there are odds of 30/1 available on a Wales World Cup victory, the most common value on offer is 40/1.
Betting apps – including Coral, Ladbrokes and Parimatch – fall into the latter category, which provides an indication of the underdog status that Wales will be bringing into the tournament.
As such, there doesn’t seem to be much confidence surrounding the Welsh at the 10th edition of the men’s Rugby World Cup.
Welsh Reunited With Fiji In France
Just before Gatland embarked on his first tenure as Wales head coach, the side were at a low ebb after failing to make it out of the pool stages of the 2007 World Cup in France.
What eventually put paid to their prospects was a 38-34 defeat to Fiji in their final game of Pool C. They had looked set to just about get over the line, until Graham Dewes pounced for a converted try on 77 minutes.
As luck would have it, Wales’ first World Cup fixture in France since that game will also be against Fiji at Stade de Bordeaux on September 10.
Currently ranked three places of them – thanks in no small part to a recent warm-up win over England – the Fijians will fancy their chances of pulling off a victory when the sides meet at the weekend.
Nonetheless, Wales will go into that particular game as the favourites to prevail. 888sport are offering odds of 1/2 on the Welsh kick-starting their World Cup campaign with a victory against Fiji.
Ladbrokes are also presenting some enticing odds of 15/8 on a Fijian triumph, but it is clear that Fiji are seen as underdogs for this fixture at the current standpoint. Meanwhile, the odds on the game ending in a draw range from 17/1 to 25/1.
Certainly, if Wales are to make any sort of positive impact at this World Cup, then a victory in their opening game will be essential.
Should they lose, it will put their quest to reach the knockout stages in serious jeopardy.