The warm-up matches for the 2023 Rugby World Cup continue, and as the competition nears, the intensity increases. This weekend Ireland, the number one ranked side in world rugby, takes on struggling England. The Irish are one of the tournament favorites. England has struggled in recent months. Here we tell you if there is any chance of the English upsetting the form book on Saturday in our latest free rugby betting picks.
- What; 2023 Rugby World Cup Warm-Up Match
- Who; Ireland vs England
- Where; Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
- When; Saturday, August 19th
- Time; 12.30 pm ET
Latest 2023 Rugby World Cup betting
Before we get onto Saturday's match, let’s take a quick look at the latest 2023 Rugby World Cup betting odds.
Here Ireland is one of the favorites, but after impressive performances in the 2023 Rugby Championship, it’s now New Zealand who leads the betting.
The All Blacks are now into just +250 to win the 2023 World Cup. The previous favorites had been France, but they’ve now slipped to second in the betting at +325. Ireland is the third favorite at +500.
TRC NEWS: The All Blacks finish top in abbreviated 2023 TRC to retain their title... as all eyes turn to Rugby World Cup in France this September
News: https://t.co/wncgkMX679#TRC2023 pic.twitter.com/iwwH31cb1h— TheRugbyChampionship (@SanzarTRC) July 31, 2023
The slight drift on the Ireland team is down to a couple of reasons. First, as we’ve just alluded to, New Zealand has started turning in some good performances. And when they play to their potential, we all know they are pretty hard to stop.
The second reason is down to Ireland’s draw. The Irish are in Pool B alongside South Africa, Scotland, Tonga, and Romania.
Just a few short months ago, Ireland looked by far the strongest team in the pool. But with the recent performances from South Africa and in particular, Scotland, progress out of the group is by no means now assured for Andy Farrell’s side.
Ireland favorites to win Pool B
The best online rugby betting sites make Ireland their -105 favorite to win the pool. And that’s fair enough. But with just two teams making it through to the quarter-finals stage, that is by no means a given for Ireland.
South Africa (+120 to win Pool B) can beat anyone on their day and is also one of the favorites to win the World Cup. But Scotland (+900 to win Pool B) is the team upsetting the odds and the apple cart.
Gregor Townsend’s team has been in impressive form recently. They’ve recently run the French close in two warm-up matches, and they finished an impressive third in the 2023 Six Nations and almost upset the French in that competition as well.
Stopping Scotland will be difficult. And any team that underestimates them, does so at their peril!
Ireland vs England Match betting
Andy Farrell’s Ireland team is an incredibly short looking -900 to beat England in their last home match before the 2023 World Cup.
That is a remarkable price for a match between two nations, who until recently, had been expected to be in the running to win the competition. But such has been the demise of England in recent months, they are +550 to win on Saturday. They are also now out to +1200 to win the World Cup.
| Team |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | -900 | -900 | -900 |
| England | +550 | +550 | +550 |
| Ireland (-15.5) | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| England (+15.5) | -110 | -110 | -110 |
On the handicap spread, the hosts are starting from 15.5 points behind. Ireland are -110, the same odds as England, who are getting a start of +15.5 points.
There are some mitigating facts for the betting odds being so one-sided. England will be without their skipper Owen Farrell. He may well be banned by the time the match kicks off. But he wasn’t expected to play this close to the World Cup, given his vital importance to the team.
And another factor is that after a bit of team rotation in recent weeks, Andy Farrell has selected a very strong starting XV for this Saturday's fixture.
🙌 Keith Earls is set to win his 100th cap on Saturday!
☘️ Ireland's team to face England is out. #IREvENG 👇 pic.twitter.com/As80SfMooW
— Planet Rugby (@PlanetRugby) August 17, 2023
Our Pick
As just mentioned, Ireland has named a strong starting XV to take on England this Saturday. The big news is that Cian Prendergast has been handed his first Ireland start, he will play at eight.
Also returning to the side are Bundee Aki and Garry Ringrose as the center partnership, with Ross Byrne starting at fly-half. That’s a strong middle of the park for Ireland, and an engine room likely to have too much for England.
Also, the experienced Keith Earls is in the squad and set to win his 100th cap. This after being named on the replacements bench.
We have little doubt that Ireland will win the match. They’ve won their previous 12 fixtures, including recent warm-up wins over England and Italy. This team is a far stronger one than they put out in last weekend’s 33-17 win over Italy, so things are only likely to be better for the Irish this week.
England beat Wales 19-17 👏🏉@George_Fordy gave England the win with four minutes left to play thanks to a penalty 🤩🏴
A nice victory ahead of the #RWC2023 in September 🏆🌎pic.twitter.com/5A9WL5OubO
— SPORTbible (@sportbible) August 12, 2023
As for England, they labored to a 19-17 win over Wales at Twickenham last Saturday. And in their previous two warm-up fixtures they lost 20-9 to Wales and 29-16 to Ireland. The English are in a bad place at the moment. And they will need a vastly improved performance if they aren’t to get a good beating this Saturday.
But we’ve seen no evidence England can improve. So for our pick, we are going for Ireland to win and to cover the spread.
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