[Rugby] Union | League / Super / 6's & 7's / Internationals/Cups/Tours/Olympics

[Timelord2067]

And a very happy New Year to one and all!  ^{(Motor mowers at 08:30 a.m. in the street on NYE)}

A quick note to mention the six nations are on on the 6th of February.

France ($1.34) Vs Ireland ($3.10)
Italy ($3.80) Vs Scotland ($1.24)
England ($1.01) Vs Wales ($17)  -  It's hard to imagine with those odds that it would be worth watching that encounter.

The final will be played on the 6th of February.  At this point, the top two teams are:

France $1.75
England $ 3.00


Looking further into the year,

Super Rugby Pacific 2026 - 20th June

The Crusaders ($3) are again the firm favourites with the Chiefs ($3.5) close behind.  Rounding out the top four, we have the Hurricanes ($5.50) then the Blues at ($8)

The Reds come in at ($13) while minnows the Moana Pasifika are at ($81) only just ahead of the Western Force on ($51).


Not forgetting the Gallagher Premiership - this weekend sees three games:

Bristol ($1.39) Vs Sale ($2.70)
Northampton ($1.05) Vs Harlequins ($7)
Leicester ($1.72) Vs Saracens ($1.97)

French Top 14 - this weekend sees seven games on:

Toulouse ($1.23)
Lyon ($1.42)
Clermont ($1,24)
Montpellier ($1.16)
Stade Francais ($1.11)
Bordeaux ($1.07)
La Rochelle ($1.03) Vs Toulon ($10)

United Rugby Championship - this weekend has eight games:

Scarlets  ($1.45)
Ospreys ($1.50)
Ulster ($1.55)
 Sharks ($1.28)
Stormers ($1.28)
Benetton ($1.32)
Leinster ($1.01) Vs Connacht ($9)

and finally, Glasgow Vs Zebre are evenly matched on $1.86

The top four teams "to win" are:

Leinster $1.70
Stormers ($4.50)
Bulls ($8)
Munster ($8)

(the Dragons and Zebre are languishing on $1501 each)

Euro Champions Cup - Futures on the 10th January, the top four teams are:

Toulouse $3.50
Leinster $4.25
Bordeaux $4.25
Bath $6.00

[aoluain]

And a very happy New Year to one and all!  ^{(Motor mowers at 08:30 a.m. in the street on NYE)}

A quick note to mention the six nations are on on the 6th of February.

France ($1.34) Vs Ireland ($3.10)
Italy ($3.80) Vs Scotland ($1.24)
England ($1.01) Vs Wales ($17)  -  It's hard to imagine with those odds that it would be worth watching that encounter.

The final will be played on the 6th of February.  At this point, the top two teams are:

France $1.75
England $ 3.00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Yup those odds look about right and I cant see a real upset in the first round,
maaaybe Ireland could upset France?

Italy have less of a chance of beating Scotland but they are at home and have
pulled off some great wins there against top sides ( thinking of Benetton)

England to beat Wales - thats a "'dead cert"'. Wales were not good during the
Autumn Internationals and will have to start rebuilding if they havent already.

United Rugby Championship - this weekend has eight games:

Scarlets  ($1.45)
Ospreys ($1.50)
Ulster ($1.55)
 Sharks ($1.28)
Stormers ($1.28)
Benetton ($1.32)
Leinster ($1.01) Vs Connacht ($9)

and finally, Glasgow Vs Zebre are evenly matched on $1.86

The top four teams "to win" are:

Leinster $1.70
Stormers ($4.50)
Bulls ($8)
Munster ($8)

(the Dragons and Zebre are languishing on $1501 each)

I think there is an outside chance that Ulster could be in the mix towards the end.
They currently sit in 3rd spot and had a massive win over rivals Munster last
weekend - 28-3 at Munsters fortress!

[Timelord2067]

It's already mid week and in two days, Aix-en-Provence ($1.18) square off against Grenoble ($4.50) in the France Pro D2.

Meanwhile, there are an amazing twelve games penciled in for the European Rugby Champions Cup:

Castres v Bath ($1.26)
Edinburgh ($1.09) v Gloucester
Blue Bulls ($1.08) v Bristol
Clermont v Glasgow ($1.26)
Leinster ($1.08) v La Rochelle
Sale ($1.06) v Sharks
Leicester ($1.85) v Bayonne
Scarlets ($1.27) v Pau
Harlequins ($1.80) v Stormers
Toulon ($1.17) v Munster
Bordeaux ($1.16) v Northampton
Saracens v Toulouse ($1.17)

England to beat Wales - thats a "'dead cert"'. Wales were not good during the
Autumn Internationals and will have to start rebuilding if they havent already.

Should be a good game to watch. 

[Timelord2067]

The Blue Bulls lost, as did the Scarlets and Toulouse.  Otherwise, all the other favourites won their matches over the week-end just gone.


International Rugby Union.

https://www.rugby.com.au/fixtures-results?team=All&comp=All&tab=Fixtures

The 5^th, 6^th, 7^th, 14^th and 15^th, and 21^st, 22^nd Feb sees some six nations games (and one Ireland A Vs England A Tour game)

The 13th of February sees the return of the Super Rugby Pacific competition with the first game between the Highlanders and Crusaders at Forsyth Barr Stadium.

Looking further ahead in to March, there is an International between the Australian Wallaroo's and the Fijian Women's team on the 27^th.

Even further ahead in April, the Pacific Four commences on the 17th between the USA Women and the Wallaroo's.

May sees the Women's Six Nations

June will see the finals of the Super Rugby Pacific competition.

Then, in July we have the "Nations Championship"

August through November, sees Tours and Internationals a-plenty with the finals to begin on the 27th November.

Internationals to pencil in your diary:

2026-07-04 Australia Vs Ireland at the same time: Argentina Vs Scotland
2026-07-11 Japan Vs Ireland at the same time: Argentina Vs Wales
2026-07-18 New Zealand Vs Ireland at the same time: Argentina Vs England
2026-09-05 Argentina Vs Australia
2026-11-06 Ireland Vs Argentina.
2026-11-13 Ireland Vs Fiji at the same time Italy Vs Argentina.
2026-11-21 Ireland Vs South Africa at the same time France Vs Argentina.

Unfortunately, except for the Wallabies games, the Nations/Internationals won't be shown on Stan Sport, so I won't be able to watch any games "live"

[Timelord2067]

It is absolutely dead quiet in the Internationals and Nationals sphere for both codes of Rugby.  I'm looking forward to the start of the NRL season in the not too distant future as well as the recommencement of various Rugby divisions around the globe.

Hope one and all had a great Festive Season.

[aoluain]

Well there isnt long to go now for the SIX NATIONS > https://www.sixnationsrugby.com/en

First match will be a real treat for the neutrals - France at home against the visitors Ireland.
France should be favourites but we can never underestimate Ireland thats why its really difficult
IMO to predict this result.

Followed by

Italy v Scotland - this could go either way with Italy at home

England v Wales - this is only going one way, I would be surprised if you could get a bet on England!

[Timelord2067]

The Singapore 7's are underway with in the men's tonight:

New Zealand ($1.45) Vs Australia ($2.60)
Great Britain ($2.37) Vs Spain ($1.52)
South Africa ($2.00) Vs Fiji ($1.75)

Also tonight in the Women's:

Japan ($1.65) Vs Fiji ($2.10) then
Australia ($1.04) Vs USA ($13)

[aoluain]

Those 3 favourites in the Mens side won their matches.

All the top 3 sides are dominating the fixtures this weekend so far.


Round 11 of the United Cup is on this weekend and a much required win today away from home
against the wooden spooners Zebre.

Ots close at the top with about 6 teams all very close together and also great to see Cardiff mixing
it up at the top also.

[Timelord2067]

Yes, it was nice to see the favourites win their games (hopefully a good omen for the rest of the year  )

Around this time tomorrow,  Pau ($1.30) take on Toulon.

[aoluain]

Finally - Six Nations time - The annual Northern Hemisphere Rugby Tournament between Wales, Ireland,
Scotland, England, France and Italy.

Fixtures for tomorrow with Odds:

France v Ireland - 1.13 - 5.40 [I dont thing I would bet on Ireland winning this]

Friday

Italy v Scotland - 3.50 - 1.29 [Italy have the potential to make an upset but the scotish clubs are very strong
this season which should feed into the national team]

England v Wales - 1.01 - 17.00 [its a dead cert that bets are not available on England]

Considerations for overall champions

France 1.70
England 3.25
Ireland 6.25

[aoluain]

France v Ireland on Thursday  went pretty much as expected
France 36 - 14 Ireland

The match was kind of over in the first half, overall France looked like they could run in trys with
some really crafty line breaks and quick passing while Ireland had to work hard by grinding through
the French defence.


Italy v Scotland is the first match today.

Italy will be definitely up for this, they will see Scotland and Wales as winnable matches and after
that - see what happens!
I think though that Scotland are still way ahead of Italy, winning the last 6 fixtures.

England v Wales - massive ask for Wales, the main goal today will be damage limitation.

[aoluain]

Week 2 in the Six Nations kicking off shortly - like 5 minutes

Ireland v Italy

Ireland massive favourites 1.08 against Italy 7.20

Italy will be pumped after their beating of Scotland last week and especially when Ireland
are going through somewhat of a transition.

Ireland have some fresh faces in this week but obviously some old guard in too, they will
definitely be looking to put last week behind and make amends with a win.

This "could" be a close one but its hard to bet against Ireland at home, maybe wait for a
purple patch for Italy to get some value on Ireland perhaps

[Timelord2067]

My money was on Ireland but it wasn't to be.  

We've had two weeks of NRL pre-season games interspersed with the white powder games ^{(no, not the nasal white powder that is favoured by cyclists competing in France, rather, the white powder stuff that falls from the sky).}  

The Official Australian 2026 Winter Olympics host broadcaster has, for nearly two weeks, interrupted their coverage of the Winter Olympics to blast saturation advertisements for their impending NRL coverage.

We get it.

Stop interrupting the Olympics! Is what I want to (yell at) the TV channel.

[aoluain]

3rd match of Round 3 of the six nations just going to kick off in 10 minutes. I think most Rugby fans
will be looking at this fixture between Wales and France only going one way.

There were 15,000 unsold tickets for this fixture, I think a lot of Welsh Rugby fans have stayed away!


Ireland beat Italy yesterday, Italy really have improved from last year even and gave us a bit of a scare

and again Scotland pull out an absolute cracking performance to beat England . . . again.

The Official Australian 2026 Winter Olympics host broadcaster has, for nearly two weeks, interrupted their coverage of the Winter Olympics to blast saturation advertisements for their impending NRL coverage.

Yea, annoying, at least keep it to the ad breaks

[aoluain]

Correction on the above ^ post, Week 2 was last weekend!

Week 3 starts up tomorrow, First match is England v Ireland - this has the makings of a great match.
Ireland are playing for at least the Triple Crown accolade.

I'm a bit shocked about the odds and that England are massive favourites given that Ireland have won
4 of the last 5 outings between the 2! 1.22 v 4.1 - definitely worth a cheeky bet on Ireland IMO or even
a +9.5 handicap on Ireland @ 1.97...

[Timelord2067]

Hull KR pounded the Brisbane Broncos in the World Club Challenge - the Broncs didn't look to be in form and lost despite their last 20 minute turn around.

In round 3 of the Witzer pre-season challenge, the in form Dolphins beat the Warriors 38 - 34, West's Tigers spanked the Panthers 26 - 12, the Sharks obliterated the Raiders 48 - 6, the Roosters got plucked 28 - 22 by the Eels (I saw most of the game on one screen at the venue I was at last night), the Storm likewise got obliterated by the Titans 42 - 12 and the last game of the Topsy-turvy round saw the Sea Eagles pounded by Rabbitohs 30 - 6.

The Blues outgunned the Western Force (I think it was played in Perth) 42 - 32 (One of the games on another screen - the late afternoon game played at a much smaller venue definitely gave the game a classic, relaxed Sunday feel - on a Saturday).  The Brumbies continued the Crusader's woes beating them 50 - 24. While the Hurricane's blew apart Moana Pacifica 52 - 10.

[aoluain]

Can we read anything into the pre-season challenges other than the entertainment factor? and
that it gives teams to blood new players and give the teams a chance to stretch their legs.

Nice win by the Tigers though to beat the Panthers, they get a rest next weekend in the first round,
not sure if that is a benefit though. It would be nice to try and follow that win with another.


Final match of round 3 of the six nations today France v Italy, hard to see anything but a French win.


Ireland pulled off a massive win yesterday against England in Twickenham 21-42. So the majority of
backers were massively wrong and the minority of us got our rewards!

[aoluain]

No Six Nations this weekend but as posted above we have the Australian National Rugby League
starting up proper on Sunday.

So @Timelord whats your take on how the teams are looking for this season?

I remember this time last year I had a plan to only back the Panthers and Storm ^iirc
but it didnt work out too well, Panthers -4 times in row champions had a terrible start of the year
which didnt go well with my betting.

No idea what 'strategy' to take this season....

[Timelord2067]

NRL 2026 - Round One!

Tonight is the calm before the NRL takes on Las Vegas with the first two games kicking off in about sixteen hours from now.  _{(and the NRL have already announced they want to push into more overseas markets with Japan supposedly one of the countries interested).}



Kicking things off, we have Newcastle ($2.20) Vs Townsville ($1.65)  Not all of my picks this round are favourites, but I'll go with the Cowboys over the Knights.
In the other first day game, I'm going with the more favoured Bulldogs ($1.38) over Saint George's Dragons ($3.10) I mentioned early last year how gelled the Bulldogs game play was and I think they are on the up and up this year.

We then have a four day hiatus before the Melbourne Storm ($1.47) rain on Parramatta's parade ($2.70).  They played well a week ago, but the Storm will prevail.

Friday sees the Auckland Warriors ($2.55) pluck the Sydney Roosters ($1.52) - although the former Manly Sea Eagles defection to the Roosters will see a strong performance (either that or DCE will have his deer in the car headlights glazed look at the post game press conference) I feel the Warriors will have built on their solid performance last year and will win.

My next pick is Brisbane ( $1.70) over the Panthers.  BUT, after their dismal outting against Hull KR, I'm feeling it might be very close and even go into golden point (the only one of the round).

Saturday's early game will see Cronulla Sutherland (1.35) outplay the Gold Coast Titans ($3.25) ^{(and I never said "wooden spoon" once!)}
In Saturday evening's match, Malny Warringa and Canberra are evenly split at ($1.90) - I'm going with Canberra given they were the minor premiers last year.

Then, in the last game of round one, the Dolphins ($1.80) take on the South Sydney Rabbitohs.  I'm still cheering for Redcliffe and feel they will break into the top eight (solidly) this year.

And in what can only be called charity, the Balmain Tigers have been handed a two point head start via a BYE for the first round.

Can we read anything into the pre-season challenges other than the entertainment factor? and
that it gives teams to blood new players and give the teams a chance to stretch their legs.

Brisbane especially could have used the off season to ... ya know ... train for the near year.  Their fumbling aginst Hull KR tells me they may not be ready.

Nice win by the Tigers though to beat the Panthers, they get a rest next weekend in the first round,
not sure if that is a benefit though. It would be nice to try and follow that win with another.

Yes, it was a morale boosting win for the Tigers, the last few years I've reported they come out swinging, then trip over the ropes very quickly.  Then shadow box for the rest of the season.  Hopefully, the new management will help shake the hoodoo of their recent abysmal couple of years.  (that and the talk (yet again) of splitting the team into their two former entities of Balmain and Wests')


In the Super League,

Warrington $1.26 Vs Wakefield $3.60
Catalans ($1.90) Vs St Helens ($1.85) Just to be different, I'll go with the Catalans)
Hull KR ($1.62) Vs Leeds $2.30) (after their win against the Broncos, my money is on Hull KR)
Bradford ($1.44) Vs Toulouse ($2.70)


Rugby Union

Super Rugby Pacific

Across the ditch, the Blues are unstoppable at $1.11 over the Brumbies at $6.00 with the game underway.  As reported last week, the Blues put in a solid performance against the Western Force.

Also this week-end sees a full round in the French Top 14 - Toulouse ($1.90), Toulon ($2.45) and Montpellier ($1.20) would be my three choices.

Japan League One - three games with Spears Kubota firm favourites at ($1.07)

United Rugby Championship - Connacht ($1.52), Munster ($1.86) and the Ospreys ($2.60) would be my picks.

... and finally, in the Premiership Rugby Cup,  Bristol, Harlequins, Bath and Northampton are very firm favourites to win.

No idea what 'strategy' to take this season....

My only "Strategy" is to NOT back *just* the favourites - expect the unexpected this year.  The post covid steady-as-she-goes is gone (i.e. the gloves are off!)

[aoluain]

Definitely going to be the case of expect the unexpected, there will definitely be upsets, and I think its clear
that trend already started last season.

I recon myself though that these 3 teams, Storm, Sharks, Panthers will still be in the mix for the finals come
the final round in the season, the Broncos will likely be in the mix also and after that it will be open season
for the rest of the spots.