There are 2 Rugby World Cup matches taking place on Sunday and we take a look at Scotland v Tonga and Wales v Australia from a betting angle.
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SCOTLAND V TONGA – Click here to bet
Scotland
Scotland must be feeling a little bit left out of it at the moment as it feels like ages since they lost their opening match 18-3 to South Africa, a game where they started 11 point underdogs. Some teams have already played 3 matches in this Tournament so it feels a bit odd that the Scots are only now playing their second.
Prior to the loss to South Africa, Scotland had warmed up with a 27 point win over Georgia, they drew a home and away fixture 1-1 with France.
Tonga
Tonga started 36 point underdogs in their opening game against Island, but they failed to stay within that handicap going down 59-16 in what is their only match of the Tournament to date.
Tonga had beaten Canada comfortably in two warm-up matches, but they had lost to Samoa, Japan and Fiji in the Pacific Nations Cup.
Head-to-Head
These sides have met three times in Internationals dating back to 2012 when Tonga thumped Scotland 21-15. Since then Scotland have won by 25 points in 2014 and by 46 points in 2021.
Handicap: Scotland -24.5
A must win game for Scotland but Tonga are capable of providing plenty of resistance. We go with Scotland but low on points
Suggested Bet: Result And Totals Scotland And Under 56.5 at 8/10
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WALES v AUSTRALIA – Click here to bet
This is a crucial game as Wales know if they get the victory they will be through to the quarter-finals, but at the same token Australia know if they can’t get a win in this game they definitely will be going home. Seemingly if Australia win there are also a number of bonus point permutations and simply put this is a game not to be missed.
Wales
Wales’s first game was against Fiji where they started 5 point favourites and managed to build a big lead midway through the second-half before Fiji came storming back with Wales eventually holding on desperately to win by 6 points. They were then 31 point favourites against Portugal but were given a hard time by the Portuguese winning 28-8
Australia
There was a fair bit of optimism in the Australian camp when they beat Georgia 35-15 in their opening game albeit, it was the only plus handicap of the weekend to arrive as Australia had started 21.5 favourites.
Their match last Sunday against Fiji was always going to be critical with Fiji having to win to stay in the Tournament and in the end it was Fiji who won by 7 points despite the fact that Australia started 5 point favourites. Australia defended well in the game but will be concerned that in many areas they were outplayed by the Fijians.
Head-to-Head
These sides last met in Cardiff in November 2022 when Australia came from well back to win 39-34. That broke a run of 3 successive Wales victories which included the Rugby World Cup pool match in 2019 where Wales won 29-25 in Japan.
Handicap: Wales -0.5
It looks like win or bust for Australia but as the betting suggests, this one could go either way. Slight preference is for Wales to edge it by a 1-7 point margin.
Suggested Bet: Winning Margin Wales By 1-7 at 11/4
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
