Ireland v Romania: Bet £10 and get £25 in free bets with Paddy Power
Ireland's Rugby World Cup campaign kicks off on Saturday afternoon as the tournament hopefuls take on Romania in Bordeaux.
Ireland v Romania odds
Ireland are such strong favourites heading into their opening game that there are no odds for them to win with Paddy Power, however their handicap line lies at 62 points with odds of 10/11 for either team.
Romania have been given match odds of 50/1 to beat the well fancied Six Nations champions heading into their first game, with the same odds being given should the match end in a draw.
Ireland v Romania betting offer
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Ireland v Romania preview
Ireland, ranked the number one team in the world, travel to France as the current Six Nations champions, and also the Grand Slam winners, and are one of the four genuine contenders to lift the William Webb Ellis trophy come the end of October.
Andy Farrell has turned this current crop of Irish players into world beaters, winning the Grand Slam in the Six Nations earlier this year, breaking records last year as they became the first Irish side to beat the All Blacks in New Zealand, and went on to win the series.
This tournament will be their legendary fly half Johnny Sexton's final World Cup campaign before his retirement, with all in Ireland looking to wish him a fairytale farewell by seeing him lift the World Cup in Paris.
Standing in Ireland's way this year is a combination of an incredibly difficult draw, having been put in the same pool as reigning champions South Africa and what is arguable the strongest Scotland team this century.
Should Farrell's side progress through their group they will almost certainly come up against one of France or New Zealand, the two joint favourites to lift the trophy, making the prospect of Ireland reaching their first ever World Cup semi final all the more challenging.
This Six Nations champions have won all of their last 14 matches heading into Saturday's opener, and 21 of their last 22.
Romania head into a very challenging Pool B expected to be the whipping boys of the group, having been drawn alongside established rugby nations South Africa, Ireland, Scotland and Samoa.
The Oaks have suffered defeats in all three of their warm up matches, including one to USA, who haven't qualified for this year's tournament, and losing by 50 points in consecutive games against Georgia and Italy.
Eugen Apjok's side have lost five of their six matches in all competitions, and aren't expected to put up much a fight on Saturday, despite this being their ninth World Cup.
Ireland have won all three of previous World Cup meetings with Romania, their most recent coming the 2015 edition when the Romanians fell to a 44-10 defeat at Wembley.
Ireland v Romania betting tips
Paddy Power have several different handicap lines should punters prefer them to the aforementioned one, with the smallest margin of victory for Ireland being 50 points at 1/4, and the biggest being 74 points at 12/5.
How to watch Ireland v Romania
- Location: Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux
- Date and time: Saturday 9 September 2023, 2:30pm
- How to watch: ITV1, ITVX, STV, STV Player
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