Rugby World Cup 2023 gets going on Friday night when France take on New Zealand in Paris and we take a look at the opening game from a betting angle.
These sides are currently sitting at the top of the betting boards with New Zealand priced at 3/1 and France 33/10 at the time of writing.
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FRANCE
France were in action two weeks ago when they beat Australia 41-17 at home in a World Cup warm-up game. It was their most convincing performance in their warm-up games which also included a 17 point win over Fiji, a 3 point home win over Scotland and a 4 point loss away to the Scots.
France have a strong World Cup pedigree, but have never won the Tournament finishing runners-up in 1987, 1999 and 2011.
NEW ZEALAND
New Zealand suffered the heaviest defeat in their history in their last warm-up game when they went down 35-7 to the Springboks at Twickenham. They were down to 14 men for the entire second-half but South Africa were on top from the start and New Zealand fans will be hoping they really had one eye on this clash with France.
The All Blacks had won the Rugby Championship fairly comfortably winning all 3 matches with the narrowest victory been a 15 point home win over South Africa and in the second Bledisloe Cup game they overcame a very strong start by Australia to beat the Wallabies 23-20 at home
New Zealand along with South Africa are the only three times Champions of the Rugby World Cup, winning in 1987, 2011 and 2015. They were 3rd in 2019.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
When France beat New Zealand 40-25 at home in November 2021 it broke a 14 match winning streak for the All Blacks. The French have proved to be something of a bogey team for the All Blacks in the World Cup over the years though stunning them in the 2007 quarter-final and coming back from the dead in the 1999 World Cup semi-final in England.
BETTING – Click here to bet
France 19/20
Draw 25/1
New Zealand 21/20
What a game to start with but a difficult one to name a winner so we look to the total points market for a betting interest. Although we have two free scoring sides they look so evenly matched and it could pay to go "unders" on the main points line.
Suggested Bet: Under 47.5 points at 9/10
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
