Gambling on rugby is not easy this year

Many Irish sports gambling fans follow rugby as their favourite sport, although no-one would claim that gambling on rugby is a mass appeal sports gambling activity. Rugby in Ireland has been very strong over recent years with both the clubs and the national side doing extremely well in both the Heineken Cup and the Six Nations tournaments, although this year has seen a bit of a drop in fortunes. Nevertheless Irish rugby gambling fans will be pleased to see that Munster have made the Heineken Cup semi-finals again, even though their opponents Clermont Auvergne are 1/8 with Ladbrokes to progress to the final. The other semi-final between Saracens and Toulon is much closer to call with both sides quoted at 10/11. There is a similar picture for rugby gambling enthusiasts in both of the major club rugby leagues followed by Irish rugby fans. Two Irish sides are favoured to win the RaboDirect Pro 12, with Leinster slight favourites at 6/5 and Ulster currently quoted at 6/4. The Aviva Premiership appears even closer to predict with both Saracens and Leicester listed at 11/8. It is clear that any sports gambling fans looking for better odds when gambling on rugby will either have to back Munster to maintain the considerable reputation of Irish sides in the Heineken Cup over recent years and beat their formidable French opponents at 5/1, or look outside the bookmakers favourites at this late stage of the season in both the RaboDirect Pro 12 and the Aviva Premiership. The most fascinating thing about sports gambling is that there is always potential for an upset, particularly in one-off games like the knock out stages of a cup competition or league championship deciders, so best of luck to all rugby gambling fans as this season comes to an end.