[Rugby] Union / League / Super / Sixes Sevens Pro14 / Cups & Tours / Olympics

[aoluain]

United Rugby Championship - Round 7

Three games scheduled for today but one is still postponed in South Africa
between The Bulls and the visiting Scarlets so the Bulls are scheduled to play the Sharks.

The other matches are:
Edinburgh v Benetton - Benetton will be looking to build on their win over Glasgow Warriors
from last week when playing at home.

Leinster v Connacht - Connacht have beaten Leinster before and will be looking to do what
Ulster did last week.


On the betting side I dont see Sportsbet listing any of the URC games for the last
number of weeks and their French PRO D2 and TOP14 are listed but betting is closed
on all games. They also have the Rugby 7's world series listed but no betting open.

https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/teams

So I'm thinking of switching sites to a different gambling platform because maybe
Rugby betting on sportsbet does not have the amount of involvement needed, IDK

E D I T 04/12/21

Update on the results from yesterday...

Sharks 30 - 16 Bulls

Edinburgh 24 - 10 Benetton - unfortunately Benetton couldnt continue their
win from Glasgow away to Edinburgh. They now sit in second place behind
Leinster but Ulster could go back in to that spot by beating The Ospreys today.

Leinster 47 - 19 Connacht - Leinster were not going to have 2 defeats in a row,
they proved far too strong for the visiting Connacht.

E D I T 07.12.21

Update from Saturdays games in the URC

Ospreys 19-13 Ulster - A bit of an unexpected result, after a great result against the
"team to beat" last week Ulster cant back it up.

Stormers 19-37 Lions

Glasgow Warriors 33-14  Dragons

[aoluain]

This weekend sees tho more competitions starting up in Europe:

The famous "Heineken Champions Cup" and the EPCR Challenge Cup.

The Heineken is the top tier club Rugby Union cross country competition
on the calendar which sees top clubs from England, France, Ireland, Wales
and Scotland play in two pools of 12 teams.

The Challenge cup running beside the Heineken has 4 pools of 5 teams all
pretty much playing for a spot in next years Heineken Cup

https://www.epcrugby.com/2021/12/09/dont-miss-this-seasons-heineken-champions-cup-and-epcr-challenge-cup/

I'm not sure where you can bet on these games, but ATM Sportsbet dont have
any Rugby listed 

[aoluain]

This thread needs a bump.

TBH I havent been betting on any games but both the United Championship and the
Heineken Champions Cup, also the Challenge Cup ^{Which I havent been following}

COVID is still playing its part with some games being postponed.

Round 9 of the URC is on tomorrow but 4 matches are postponed and 2 set to play.

[Timelord2067]

A Happy New Year to one and all.

Yes, Covid has been playing havoc with games - I've been hearing the various UK Football teams have been impacted this round with players and officials out.

Our covid numbers are slim in Australia compared with UK/IRE/EU Continent, however two family members of mine (one in Victoria, the other here in SEQ) have both been told to isolate and get tested the same day which hits close to home.

At this point, it looks like I'll be able to post perhaps once per week, so I'll try to put together a "weekly wrap up" of information I find online (I might hunt out some small comps not featured on gaming sites too).

[aoluain]

^
It would be great to have you back in the thread and on the forum Timelord and hopefully
2022 will bring some more regular contributors to the thread too

Happy new year Timelord and to all the Rugby fans who commented to date.

[aoluain]

4 games scheduled this weekend in the United Championship with 1 postponed
because of the old reliable COVID.

Edinburgh v Cardiff - Edinburgh could go to top position if they win but the table ATM is
a bit skewed with Edinburgh being 1 point behind Leinster at the top and many teams 1
or 2 games behind and still to play them.

Glasgow Warriors v Ospreys - this is a game between 5th and 4th spots currently

Munster v Ulster - Ulster are going well and are in 3rd, while Munster who are not going too badly
are down in 7th but only 6 games played, thats 3 missed to date.

Scarlets v Dragons - Postponed

There is concern now as to how to fit all remaining games into the remaining schedule,
round 10 this weekend and every team has missed some rounds, The south African
teams and Cardiff have only played 5, some have played only 6 or 7 and a few have
played 8.

[Timelord2067]

Australian Rugby League News:

NRL stars lash out at tight COVID-19 restrictions ahead of return to pre-season - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-01-05/nrl-covid-latrell-mitchell/100738760

Posted Wed 5 Jan 2022 at 9:17am

Some of the NRL's biggest names have queried the tight restrictions imposed as COVID-19 cases hit clubs on the eve of their return to pre-season training.
Key points:

    The NRL has announced strict new protocols ahead of players returning to pre-season training
    Some of the game's biggest names, including Latrell Mitchll and Josh Addo-Carr, have voiced their concerns
    Players will be banned from going inside restaurants, pubs and cinemas and will be tested daily

Brisbane Broncos on Tuesday confirmed four players had COVID-19, while Canterbury are also managing positive cases ahead of the team's return to the paddock on Thursday.

Australia's cricket, soccer and basketball codes are all scrambling to administer their summer seasons while mounting cases in the NBA have caused unprecedented scenes.

Next day...

Qld NRL clubs hit by COVID-19 outbreaks - https://thewest.com.au/sport/rugby-league/number-of-broncos-covid-19-cases-grow-c-5202907

George Clarke and Murray WenzelAAP Thu, 6 January 2022 10:40AM

Brisbane's NRL pre-season has been hit by 16 players and three members of the club's football staff testing positive for COVID-19 as the virus took its toll on Queensland's football codes.

Gold Coast have nine players and staff in isolation ahead of Friday's return to training, while Super Rugby neighbors the Queensland Reds have 11 confirmed cases and 12 more players in isolation awaiting test results.

The Broncos on Wednesday announced four players had tested positive for the virus but the quartet were all asymptomatic.

They have since returned to training given their tests were taken over the Christmas period and they had complied with the Queensland government's mandatory seven-day isolation.

The rest of the squad was sent for testing on Tuesday, with 16 additional players recording positive findings.

They have all been ordered to isolate at home for the next seven days and will be allowed to return to training once they have been symptom-free for 48 hours.

Despite the large numbers of positive cases, the remaining 22 members of Brisbane's squad attended training on Thursday.

Every member of the Broncos playing group is double-vaccinated.

Three hours later:

V'landys confident NRL has systems in place to avoid disruptions - https://www.nrl.com/news/2022/01/06/vlandys-confident-nrl-has-systems-in-place-to-avoid-covid-disruptions/

Thu 6 Jan 2022, 01:14 PM

ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys is confident the NRL will have enough measures in place to ensure there are limited disruptions to the major men's and women's competitions in 2022.

V'landys joined The Ray Hadley Morning Show on Thursday to discuss the current climate of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We believe we have the systems in place to avoid disruption and we're lucky in a sense that it's happening now and we're learning from the experience," V'landys told stand-in host Mark Levy.

"I believe in our system and we've already got 30,000 antigen tests, and it will work and minimise the disruption.

"It won't be a hard bubble this year, it will be what we call a soft bubble. The players will be able to go to places but they must use common sense.

"They can't go to pubs or nightclubs that are full of people but they can go to restaurants that are outdoor dining so their lives won't be as disrupted as they have been the last two years because we are confident that if one player does catch it we will catch it early with the rapid antigen tests and that way they won't infect any of the other players."

A day later...

RLPA to meet NRL over COVID protocols - https://www.goulburnpost.com.au/story/7573191/rlpa-to-meet-nrl-over-covid-protocols/

 - January 7 2022 - 3:38PM - George Clarke

The Rugby League Players' Association aims to sit down with the NRL to thrash out revised COVID-19 protocols after players were placed in level-one restrictions over the New Year's weekend.

Under the NRL's existing framework, players were informed last week that they must stay away from indoor venues such as restaurants, pubs and cinemas despite the season not kicking off until March.

It led to criticism from leading players such as Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr and Jack Wighton, with the latter posting on social media: "Thought I was getting the stupid vax so I didn't have to do another year of this s**t."

With over 90 per cent of the Australian population over the age of 16 now double jabbed, RLPA chief executive Clint Newton wants to sit down and discuss updated terms.

"We have the tools at our disposal to create a safe workplace and we want to get things in a position where players can live their lives like the rest of the community," Newton told AAP.

"COVID-19 protocol restrictions are something players are frustrated with and we share those frustrations with the players, particularly in situations when they have been implemented without players being consulted and properly communicated with.

"This gives us a great opportunity, which is what we've requested from (NRL chief executive) Andrew Abdo, is to get together now.

"The importance of protocols over the last two years are not in dispute. This is now about the restrictions that are over and above the community.

Round 1 of the 2022 Maori Vs Indigenous mini series kicks off on the 12th of February at 7:10pm AEDST

https://www.nrl.com/draw/all-stars/2022/round-1/maori-v-indigenous/

Game one of the 2022 NRL Series kicks of on the 10th of March, 2022 with the clash of the Grand-finalists for 2021, the Panthers and the Sea Eagles at 7:05pm AEDST.

https://www.nrl.com/draw/nrl-premiership/2022/round-1/panthers-v-sea-eagles/


The 2021 NRLW season is coming - https://www.nrl.com/news/2021/12/20/where-unreal-becomes-real/

The NRL Telstra Women’s Premiership kicks off on February 27. Spoken by Melanie Mununggurr, 2018 Australian Poetry Slam Champion, Djapu writer from Yirrkala in East Arnhem land and rugby league player.

[aoluain]

That looks like a running battle against COVID, like a lot of sports. Its effects are still
showing in the URC and Heineken Champions Cup with suspended games.
Our national games here are effected with training restrictions also.

I'm looking forward to the new NRL season.


After the weekends round 10 in the URC Edinburgh do indeed go into top spot
by beating Cardiff 34 - 10. Gong forward Edinburgh are definitely a team much
improved this season and are ones to watch for this season.

[aoluain]

So this weekend sees one tournament on "Pause" ^{United Rugby Championship}
and another resume ^{Heineken Champions Cup}.

Round 3 resumes this weekend, games starting tonight. As per a previous post the organisers
have a difficult job to try an fit the previous postponed games into the season and with the
Six Nations Championship starting in the first week in February its going to get really tricky

[Timelord2067]

It's a shame to see so many tournaments pausing, re-starting then pausing again.

The Six Nations may be another month away, but I've got a couple of wagers locked in:

6th February, Ireland - Wales I'm going to say Ireland followed by the Scotland - England game I'm going for England.

7th February, the books haven't opened on the France Vs Italy game as yet.

[aoluain]

COVID restrictions and protocols are having an effect on everything and its frustrating
to say the least. I recon its a right headache for sports organisations to manage.

In the six nations my betting for the first weekend will be Ireland to beat Wales,
England to beat Scotland and France to beat Italy, fairly straight forward although
Wales could challenge Ireland.

As I mentioned over on the Tennis thread, I'm sick of Spertsbet and their
Rugby offering and I'm going to move to Nitrogensports, do you have a referral
link Timelord?

This is the offering from Sportsbet on my app for Rugby Union "Future events"

[Timelord2067]

COVID restrictions and protocols are having an effect on everything and its frustrating
to say the least. I recon its a right headache for sports organisations to manage.

In the six nations my betting for the first weekend will be Ireland to beat Wales,
England to beat Scotland and France to beat Italy, fairly straight forward although
Wales could challenge Ireland.

Yes, Covid is certinally playing havock with fixtures (i.e. Tennis  ) so I'm not surprised the opposition site has locked betting.  The France Vs Italy game is open to spread wagers while the other two fixtures appear to have a full spread of betting options.

As I mentioned over on the Tennis thread, I'm sick of Sportsbet and their
Rugby offering and I'm going to move to Nitrogensports, do you have a referral
link Timelord?

This is the offering from Sportsbet on my app for Rugby Union "Future events"

I had a little dig and found this [LINK] which I've also squeezed into my signature. (click here for the archive version of my post to verify the link hasn't been tampered with) https://ninjastic.space/post/59015801

[aoluain]

Thanks Timelord, I created an account from your link, I hope I did it right ^{on my phone}.

I have no experience with American Money Line odds, can someone explain an easy way
to work out the odds?

Ireland -714 :: +425 Wales

Obviously Ireland are favourites but I cannot get my head around converting to say, decimal,
would Irelands odds be 1.14 ?

[Timelord2067]

Thanks Timelord, I created an account from your link, I hope I did it right ^{on my phone}.

I have no experience with American Money Line odds, can someone explain an easy way
to work out the odds?

Ireland -714 :: +425 Wales

Obviously Ireland are favourites but I cannot get my head around converting to say, decimal,
would Irelands odds be 1.14 ?

Once you log in - click on Sportsbook, then...  (on my PC at least)

Near the top right you should see

View:European - Odds: Decimal - Language: English

Or something similar... (Have a play with the view and odds settings) - I know I had to change this too...

(Looks like the link worked too BTW! Thanks for that!)

[aoluain]

Spot on Timelord, I had to change those settings on the PC and all seems to be the
way I want them.

I have just sent some Bitcoin over to my wallet to start a few bets. I see they also
have The Challenge Cup games and the Champions League games listed for
this coming weekend along with the World Series 7's.I sent some Bitcoin to my
existing Sportsbet account to get betting on the AO so I'll use the Nitrogensports for Rugby.

[Timelord2067]

Spot on Timelord, I had to change those settings on the PC and all seems to be the
way I want them.

I have just sent some Bitcoin over to my wallet to start a few bets. I see they also
have The Challenge Cup games and the Champions League games listed for
this coming weekend along with the World Series 7's.I sent some Bitcoin to my
existing Sportsbet account to get betting on the AO so I'll use the Nitrogensports for Rugby.

Yeh I've got to admit I quite like how streamline NitrogenSports' Sportsbook page is (I don't venture into the other gamaing sections - too distracting )

There are some drop down parts that you can also fold back up.

i.e.  Click on Rugby, then you can close/hide the European Challenge Cup so you're just viewing the Japan-Tournaments section for example.

Handy for scrolling up and down.

[aoluain]

Spot on Timelord, I had to change those settings on the PC and all seems to be the
way I want them.

I have just sent some Bitcoin over to my wallet to start a few bets. I see they also
have The Challenge Cup games and the Champions League games listed for
this coming weekend along with the World Series 7's.I sent some Bitcoin to my
existing Sportsbet account to get betting on the AO so I'll use the Nitrogensports for Rugby.

Yeh I've got to admit I quite like how streamline NitrogenSports' Sportsbook page is (I don't venture into the other gamaing sections - too distracting )

There are some drop down parts that you can also fold back up.

i.e.  Click on Rugby, then you can close/hide the European Challenge Cup so you're just viewing the Japan-Tournaments section for example.

Handy for scrolling up and down.

Yea I got that, thanks Timelord.


A bit of news which could have a slight consequence on Englands plans for the Six Nations,
Owen Farrell got injured yesterday training with Saracens and wont play this weekend.

He is a big loss and would be for England too. Scotland will be eyeing his progress
in the coming week for sure.

I havent made any Rugby bets yet on any competition.

[aoluain]

Round 4 and final round of the Heineken Champions Cup was this weekend and
all 4 Irish sides are through to the Round of 16 knockout games. These are set
for April to make way for the up coming Six Nations but this weekend before
the Six Nations round 11 of the United Rugby Championship is being
squeezed in, hopefully all games will be played without further cancellations.

I have my bet on for Ireland to beat Wales in the Six Nations @ 1.14.

[Timelord2067]

Have just found the Women's World Series 7's underway in a few hours, I can only do some points spreads, so here goes:

Australia W - France 7s W Point Spread Australia W (-5.5) @ 1.94 Taken Amount: 0.03 mBTC Possible Payout: 0.06 mBTC

USA 7s Women - canada 7s sevens W Point Spread USA 7s Women (-12.5) @ 1.70 Taken Amount: 0.03 mBTC Possible Payout: 0.05 mBTC

[aoluain]

I didnt know that was on, it hasnt even been on any  ewd bulletins here.

Just checking the world series rankings > https://www.world.rugby/sevens-series/standings/womens?lang=en

Australia being in the #1 position! Ireland at 6.

Live coverage is available on youtube > https://youtu.be/WqaWOnvlHiw


In the URC I have 1 bet on this weekend, Cardiff are at home to the visiting Leinster,
My bet is on Leinster who sit in 3rd spot and Cardiff sit in 11th.