Wales vs Fiji tips: Betting preview with Rugby World Cup odds & predictions
Wales vs Fiji betting tips:
They will be waiting longer than any of their Six Nations rivals, but Wales' Rugby World Cup credentials will be put to the test when their campaign gets underway with a Pool C encounter against Fiji at Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on Sunday evening (kick-off 8pm UK time).
Across Friday and Saturday, Ireland, Italy, England and host nation France will all take to the field for their first games of the tournament and will hope to set a strong tempo for what is to follow in the coming weeks.
While Scotland also take on defending champions South Africa on Saturday, their battle at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille will have reached a conclusion by the time Wales’ opening fixture of the tournament starts.
Having an additional lead-in time isn’t a bad thing for the Welsh, however, as their head coach Warren Gatland needs every available minute at his disposal to prepare for a potentially pivotal outing.
Doubts being cast over Wales
Wales would have been red-hot favourites to overcome Fiji at any point in Gatland's first tenure as Wales supremo (2008-2019), but there is great uncertainty over this current group.
He made a dramatic return to his former role after his fellow New Zealander Wayne Pivac was relieved of his duties at the end of last year, but he has won just two games from eight international tests thus far in 2023.
Additionally, Alun Wyn Jones, Justin Tipuric and Rhys Webb all retired from Welsh duty in between the end of the Six Nations Championship and the beginning of their World Cup warm-up series.
Recent World Cup history on the side of the Welsh
Nonetheless, Wales have enjoyed a strong pedigree in the World Cup under Gatland in the past – reaching the semi-final stage in the 2011 and 2019 editions of the tournament – and betting sites are backing them to deliver the goods in Bordeaux.
As things stand, Betway are one of 10 bookmakers who are rating Wales’ chances of beating Fiji at 1/2.
By contrast, the Fijians – who have five UK-based players in their World Cup squad – are 8/5 to come out on top according to the latest Rugby World Cup odds.
This shouldn’t be dismissed lightly given they have won four of their last five international fixtures, but the Welsh may have just enough in their locker to prevail on the day.
Welsh will have to fight for a win
Yet for a team that isn’t exactly high on confidence – and are actually three spots behind seventh-placed Fiji in the world rankings coming into the tournament – any Welsh victory is expected to be by a relatively slender margin.
Their wins over Italy and England in this calendar year have been by 12 and 11 points respectively and there are odds of 5/1 available with Spreadex on Wales to come through on a winning margin of between 11-15 points.
However, shorter odds of 17/4 on them securing the spoils by a gap of either 1-5 points or 6-10 points indicate that a small winning margin is more likely.
From the current standpoint, the latter seems like the more practical option.
Fiji can cause problems for Wales
That said, Fiji are no pushovers and will have their sights set on replicating their famous pool stage success over Wales at the 2007 World Cup – which also took place in France.
That 38-34 win in Nantes helped them to advance into the quarter-final stages of the tournament and with Toulon’s Waisea Nayacalevu captaining the side at his third World Cup, they will be a tough nut to crack.
They will believe that victory is possible if they can bring a lead into the half-time break on Sunday and with Unibet offering 13/10 on such a scenario playing itself out, it's a bet we're willing to take on.
