South Africa take on Scotland in a Rugby World Cup Pool B match on Sunday and we take a look at the game from a betting angle.
Let’s start with a look at the latest Outright Betting where France have firmed into 28/10 favourites after their win against New Zealand on Friday night. South Africa are stable at 33/10 and the All Blacks have drifted to 7/2 you can still get 11/2 Ireland and 14/1 and better the balance. This betting is unlikely to change too much after Saturday’s action.
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SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa head into the World Cup with plenty of confidence having dismantled New Zealand 35-7 at Twickenham in their last warm-up match. They also looked good when they took on a somewhat under-strength Wales side in Cardiff winning 52-16 and their first warm-up game came away in Argentina where they recovered from a half-time deficit to win 24-13.
South Africa were 2nd in the Rugby Championships after a narrow win over Argentina at home, a loss by 15 points to New Zealand away and a 31 point victory over Australia at home to kick off the Tournament.
South Africa have an excellent Rugby World Cup record and have won it 3 times since making their debut in 1995, those wins coming 12 years apart, in 1995, 2007 and 2019 when they beat England in the final.
South Africa Squad
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (Captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Duane Vermeulen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Willie le Roux
SCOTLAND
Scotland were pushed hard by Georgia in the early going in their last warm-up match, but they came through to win 33-6. They had previously played home and away matches against France, winning 25-21 at home against an admittedly an under-strength French team, but they then pushed the French all the way coming from a 27-10 deficit just after half-time to eventually lose to a late penalty 30-27.
Scotland finished 3rd in this year’s Six Nations.
Scotland’s best performance in a Rugby World Cup was way back in 1991 when they finished 4th and since then they haven’t been able to progress beyond the quarter-finals.
Scotland Squad
Blair Kinghorn, 14 Darcy Graham, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (captain), 5 Grant Gilchrist, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Pierre Schoeman.
Replacements: 16 Dave Cherry, 17 Jamie Bhatti, 18 WP Nel, 19 Scott Cummings, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 Ali Price, 22 Cameron Redpath, 23 Ollie Smith
HEAD-TO-HEAD
South Africa won their last 7 matches against Scotland, the most recent victory coming at Murrayfield in November 2021 where the Boks won 30-15. Scotland last beat South Africa back in November of 2010 when they won 21-17 at home.
BETTING – Click here to bet
South Africa 2/9
Draw 30/1
Scotland 4/1
Handicap: South Africa -11.5
TOTAL POINTS: 47.5
Scotland are a more than useful side on their day and the Boks will have to be on top of their game to make a winning start. We side with our boys to win the game but as the Scots will need to pull off an upset, either here or in their clash with Ireland, if they are to make the knockout rounds the margin of victory could be narrow.
Suggested Bet: Winning Margin, South Africa By Under 12.5 Points at 16/10
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Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change