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Types of Rugby Union Bet

Here is a guide to the types of bet you can make on a rugby union match or tournament.

Types of Rugby Union Bet - The Win-Draw-Win Bet

Perhaps the easiest and most popular betting type across most sports is the win-draw-win bet. Basically, a single bet is made on the final outcome of the match. It could be an international game in a tournament such as the World Cup or the Six Nations, a club game in the Heineken Cup or the Guinness Premiership, or even a friendly (non-competitive) match. The bet is simply a money stake on a Home Win, a Draw or an Away Win - hence the title "Win-Draw-Win betting".

Types of Rugby Union Bet - Each Way Betting

Similarly, you can bet on an individual tournament or event - be it the Six Nations, the Heineken Cup etc. - by choosing who you think will win (or get to the final). You can select a team or a player - it doesn't matter, as long as what you're betting on has a winner and a runner up. For example, if you bet on which player will score the most points in the Six Nations you have to decide whether you want to bet on your selection to win outright or to win and/or finish in second/third/fourth place etc. This bet for a win or a place is known as Each Way betting.

When making this type of bet, have a good look at the Each Way terms - in other words, the final positions your team or player must finish in for you to have a winning bet, together with the proportion of the odds you would be paid for your selection being placed. You can find this information at the foot of the list of teams or players for the event you are betting on. If you choose Each Way and your selection wins the competition, you will collect both the win part (paid at full odds) and the place part (paid at the proportion of the odds shown in the Each Way terms).

Types of Rugby Union Bet - The Accumulator

The risks of betting on Rugby Union, and indeed any other sport, are increased by placing an accumulator bet. However, if the bet comes off, the returns can be massive. Put simply, an accumulator is a combined bet, where several different selections all have to be successful. The winnings from the first selection roll on to the following bet, and so on, accumulating a pot of potentially huge winnings. However, the odds of winning an accumulator bet are low as a result.

Types of Rugby Union Bet - Special Bets

There are many more things you can bet on than the final result of a game or tournament. You can also try to predict the actual points score of a match or the total number of points scored in a match, although in high points scoring matches this can prove significantly more difficult than football, for example, where often only one or two goals are scored.

Depending on the bookmakers you use, you can place one off "exotic" bets on things such as:

• The location of the next World Cup.
• The year that a certain player is going to retire.
• Which team is going to receive the dreaded wooden spoon in the Six Nations.
• The number of minutes it takes for the first points to be scored, as well as the first try.
• The total points scored by the individual shirt number.
• The total minutes before an individual player scores a try.

You can also bet on the head-to-head winning margin, half-time/full time score, the first scoring play, the first try scorer and whether or not a specific player will score a try.

Types of Rugby Union Bet - Spread Bets

This type of Rugby Union betting is perhaps the most sophisticated. With spread betting, the more accurate the gamble, the more you can expect to win. A spread is quoted, i.e. a points margin. You must bet on whether the outcome will be above or below the spread.

For example, with London Irish v Saracens a spread may be quoted at 10-12, meaning the bookmakers expect London Irish to win by at least 12 points. If you think it will be a close game, or even a Saracens victory, then you'd be a seller of the bet.

Types of Rugby Union Bet - Coupon Betting

You can pick up specially printed Rugby Union coupons in some Bookmakers (usually only in traditional Rugby Union towns or cities). They look similar to football pools coupons, although because draws are rare in Rugby Union, there are no "Rugby Union Pools" so to speak.

Most online bookmakers will also offer online coupons if you cant find any at your high street bookmakers. A coupon sets out a number of matches chosen by the bookmaker that are usually on the same day, or weekend. To win, you have to predict correctly how a selection of the matches on the coupon will turn out - in other words it is an accumulator made up of win-draw-win bets. Although it may sound easy, there are usually some hard to call matches thrown into the mix by the bookmaker to make things a little interesting.

Once you are familiar with the various types of bets used when betting on rugby union, visit our Rugby Union Betting Strategies page for some hints and tips.

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