Rugby World Cup betting tips: Preview of the second weekend including France v Uruguay and England v Japan

Rugby World Cup betting tips: Second weekend

2pts Uruguay (+51) to beat France on the handicap at evens (bet365)

1pt Uruguay to score the first try of the match at 5/1 (BoyleSports)

France v Uruguay

• 2000 BST, Thursday September 14 (ITV)

Depending on whether you glass is half empty – as it was for most World Cup fans in France’s under-stocked bars – or half full, this weekend’s matches can be looked at in two different ways.

In terms of match betting, the shortness of quality is matched by the odds. But with it being a David versus Goliath weekend, where the big guns come up against some of the so-called minnows, there are opportunities to read between handicap lines and pick out some profit-making selections.

Uruguay enter the World Cup tonight (Thursday) and are a far better team than many casual fans give them credit for. Los Teros went to the last World Cup with only a handful of full-time professionals and shocked Fiji, while this time around the squad is made up entirely of people paid to play the game.

The majority turn out for Peñarol, the two-time defending South American champions, giving Uruguay a togetherness, a bond, that will see them through tough times. Obviously, France’s players play up another level or two, week in week out, but you’d wager Los Teros being better than +51.

What should help, is the fact France like to keep the scoreboard ticking over three points at a time through penalty goals, which means it will take them longer to accumulate the points they need to beat the handicapper. Also, France only converted 29% of their entries into the All Blacks’ 22 into points in their opening match, so they have yet to get into their attacking stride.

Underdogs scoring first was a bit of a trend in round one and Los Teros are 5/1 to do so against Les Bleus. Although early prices as big as 8/1 were snaffled up earlier in the week, 5/1 remains value. Also note that Paddy Power go 14/1 for the first scoring play of the match to be a Uruguay try, which is an interesting alternative.

Typically, they have scored early on this year, with three of their eight tries coming inside the opening 20 minutes of the game, so the stats back this up as a valid bet.

• France v Uruguay preview posted at 1115 BST on 14/09/23

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