The 2013 Rugby League World Cup (RLWC) runs from October 26th through November 30th with fourteen nations competing in the tournament, which is being jointly hosted by the UK, Ireland and France.
Betting on the 2013 Rugby League World Cup: Four Groups
There are four groups going off in this one, two of them with four teams each and two with three teams each. Why? It is an attempt to keep the bigger, higher ranked nations together so the groups are somewhat competitive.
Group A: Australia, England, Fiji, Ireland
Group B: New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, France, Samoa
Group C: Scotland, Tonga, Italy
Group D: Cook Islands, USA, Wales
From Groups A and B, three of the four teams will be qualifying for the quarter finals, joined by one team each from Group C and D. The format at least offers some predictably too of who should be getting through. You would expect Australia, England and Fiji to be progressing from Group A, with New Zealand and Samoa definitely from Group B, with a toss-up then between Papua New Guinea and France.
Not too surprisingly there are the three big guns whose punters are not going to be looking much beyond for 2013 Rugby League World Cup. The odds-on-favorites are Australia, New Zealand and England. To kick off the tournament there is the massive match in Group A between Australia and England. That first game may well end up being the decider for top spot. Australia is favored in the match-up because after all, they are the top ranked nation in the world, with England third.
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The RLWC has been dominated by three teams in the history of the tournament. Just to put things into context here, in thirteen previous tournaments, no team other than Australia, Zealand, Great Britain/England and France have been in the final. Australia has won nine of those World Cups, Great Britain with three and New Zealand with one. It is the Kiwis who are the reigning and defending champions in fact after pulling off a shocking win in Australia’s own back yard in Brisbane back in 2008. The Kiwis took their first title with a 34-20 win and should pose the biggest threat to the Kangaroos this time around.
There is a lot of optimism for England though, as they make their fifth appearance in the World Cup under their own steam and not as part of Great Britain. They are part of the powerful triumvirate and Coach Steve McNamara seems to have assembled a very well balanced side, and the inclusion of three of the four Burgess Brothers: George, Tom and Sam. Sam is one of the stars of the National Rugby League (NRL) for South Sydney while his brother George was named Rookie of the Year, playing for the same side.
England should be competitive now that they have more talent and a heavy home support. New Zealand is ready to defend their crown, and Australia aims to take their title back.
Who will win the Rugby League World Cup this year?
