Ireland v Romania: Latest Odds & Analysis On Romania Test
When: Saturday 9 September, 2.30pm (Irish time)
Where: Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux (capacity: 42,115)
Watch: RTE, Virgin Media
Best Odds: Ireland 1/1000, Romania 100/1
It is set to be a relatively low-key opening to the Rugby World Cup, but with Andy Farrell’s men being the number one ranked team in world rugby, betting sites are still taking a big interest in Ireland’s Pool B clash with Romania in Bordeaux on Saturday afternoon.
Since losing the first test of their summer series in New Zealand on July 2 of last year, the Green Army have been on a constant upward trajectory. After bouncing back to win the next two games against the All Blacks – and making it a 2-1 tour success – Ireland enjoyed an unbeaten run through the November international window.
This helped to increase expectations in advance of the 2023 Six Nations Championship, but Farrell’s troops proceeded to win five tests on the bounce to secure a Grand Slam for the first time in five years.
It wasn’t necessarily plain sailing for them in their three World Cup warm-up encounters last month against Italy, England and Samoa – the latter in particular worked them to the bone in Bayonne – but Ireland ultimately come into the RWC on a winning run of 13 games.
Ireland The Strongest Of Favourites To Beat Romania
This is a new record for Ireland and barring a shock of gigantic proportions, it is anticipated that they will extend it this coming weekend. Coming into their clash, Romania are a full 18 places and 27.26 points behind Ireland in World Rugby’s official rankings.
Following eight successive appearances in World Cup finals, Romania were expelled from the 2019 edition of the tournament for fielding an ineligible player in the qualification phase.
Nonetheless, they more than merit their inclusion in this year’s finals and have recorded six wins from 28 games across their previous outings in the RWC. None of these victories were at the expense of Ireland, however, with their upcoming opponents getting the better of them in the pool stages of the 1999, 2003 and 2015 finals.
There has been a degree of comfort to all their successes thus far and if you look at the odds being offered by the various betting apps on the market, it is reasonable to assume a similar scenario will play itself out on Saturday.
At the present moment, eight bookmakers are offering an astounding 1/1000 on Ireland coming away with the spoils in their tournament opener.
Hills at 1/500 are the only ones to go shorter than this, but with a squad that ranges from 22-year-old lock Joe McCarthy to 38-year-old team captain Jonathan Sexton, it is anticipated that Ireland will hit the ground running in France.
While Jack Conan, Dan Sheehan and Dave Kilcoyne have all been ruled out of the Romanian test through injury, there are more than capable replacements for this triumvirate within the Irish ranks.
All The Odds Are Stacked Against Romania
From a Romanian perspective, the odds on them claiming a jaw-dropping win goes as far out as 100/1. Yet some firms are offering the much shorter value of 25/1, with others opting for 12/1 on a seemingly unlikely Romania success.
Meanwhile, the lowest odds on a draw –is 33/1. However, neither team have drawn a game before at the Rugby World Cup and there is little indication that this will be the first as odds as big as 250/1 are available on a stalemate.
After recording a 44-14 win over them in the 1999 World Cup, Ireland emerged on the right side of a 45-17 final scoreline against Romania in Australia four years later. When they renewed acquaintances at Wembley Stadium on September 27, 2015, Ireland stretched the winning margin out to 34 points (44-10).
Big Winning Margin Expected For Ireland In Bordeaux
While current squad members Conor Murray and Keith Earls featured in that game – the latter bagging a brace of tries – rugby betting sites are expecting the gap to have widened for their fourth World Cup meeting. The lowest odds on Ireland defeating Romania by a margin of between 26 and 30 points is 18/1.
Some bookies are offering the same value on Ireland replicating 2015 and winning by somewhere in the region of 31 and 35 points.
Although it will depend on team selection and how motivated the players that take the field are, a bigger winning margin is expected on this occasion.
Other firms are offering 13/2 on Ireland to emerge victorious by a gap of between 66 to 70 points. Despite not being that far-fetched, a winning margin of 51 to 55 points seems slightly more realistic.
Chance That Romania Could Get The Scoring Underway
Everything appears to be stacked against Romania coming into this game with the gap in quality to Ireland there for all to see.
Yet it is not beyond them to gain some form of solace from this fixture and with the exception of their 42-0 reversal to Scotland in Pool C of the 2007 World Cup, they have made some sort of contribution to the scoreboard.
Even though the smart money would be on Ireland being the ones to break the deadlock in Bordeaux, there is every chance that Romania could draw first blood.
Should they be awarded a penalty that is within kicking distance during the early stages of the action, it is likely that Eugene Apjok will be looking for one of his on-field generals to have a shot at goal.
Whereas Boyles are offering 1/18 on Ireland being the team to open the scoring on Saturday, the same bookie is viewing a Romanian deadlock-breaker as an 8/1possibility. For those interested in a slightly leftfield bet, the latter does have a certain appeal.
This game will only be the beginning of what Ireland supporters hope will be a long journey through the tournament and while the calibre of opponent is set to increase substantially as it progresses, there is still plenty to be garnered from their opening World Cup clash.
Best Bet: Ireland To Win By 51-55 points – 15/2 @ William Hill
Player Prop: Romania To Score First – 8/1 @ Bet365