The Rugby World Cup is back, with France playing host to the latest renewal of the sport’s highest-profile tournament from 8 September – 28 October. Three-time winners New Zealand will be hoping to regain the Webb Ellis Cup from their southern hemisphere rivals South Africa.
However, the All Blacks will face stiff competition from the likes of France and Ireland as they aim to become just the second European winner after England’s success in 2003, while the Springboks won’t give up their title without a fight either.
All eyes will be on the Stade de France on September 8 as the hosts go toe-to-toe with New Zealand in what promises to be a thrilling opener in Paris as two of the best teams in the world look to make a statement of intent.
We could get a better idea of who is going to win the Webb Ellis Cup from that match, but before then, let’s take a look at the favourites for the Rugby World Cup on Paddy Power.
New Zealand
It wouldn’t be a Rugby World Cup without New Zealand being the outright favourites and that’s the case this year. Scott Robertson’s side aren’t at the fore of the market on merit, however, their favouritism is justified after the All Blacks won their third Rugby Championship in succession with a clean sweep of victories over South Africa, Argentina and rivals Australia earlier this year.
This current crop of New Zealand players arguably isn’t as strong as some of their World Cup-winning predecessors, but they are in scintillating form. Their recent defeat to South Africa in their final warm-up game ended a long unbeaten run that spanned back to the 2022 Rugby Championship and their winning mentality is hard to match.
France
France have had a meteoric rise under Fabien Galthie in recent years, completing the Grand Slam at the 2022 Six Nations as Les Bleus won the competition for the first time since 2010. They went close to defending their title last year, but Ireland proved too good as Andy Farrell’s men won the Grand Slam.
It was still a good tournament for the French as they beat everyone but Ireland, while Thomas Ramos was the top point scorer, Damian Penaud was the top try scorer and Antoine Dupont was named Player of the Tournament. France have lost three World Cup finals, but their form in recent years and the fact they are playing on home soil could get them over the line this time.
Ireland
Given that Ireland are current Grand Slam champions and the number-one ranked team in the world, it is somewhat of a surprise to see Farrell’s men back in third in the betting at 9/2 — or 5.50 if you use an odds converter to switch to decimals. The boys in green have been in fine fettle for the best part of the last year, going on an incredible unbeaten run of 13 consecutive games.
The streak started with Ireland’s first-ever series victory over the All Blacks in 2022, coming back from a game down to win 2-1 in New Zealand, and they have since beaten top 10 sides like Fiji, Australia and South Africa as well as all of their Six Nations rivals. A 33-17 win over Italy and a 29-10 over England in warm-up matches for this World Cup are worth nothing as well. There’s a sense that Ireland are being somewhat overlooked.
