Russia v Samoa betting tips, odds, predictions – Rugby World Cup 2019 match-day 5

Welcome to our betting preview of the Pool A match between Russia and Samoa Tuesday, September 24.

Russia are given no chance of beating the Pacific Islanders at Kumagaya Rugby Stadium, and while we believe Samoa will have few problems winning, the line of 29.5 points seems a little high.

These teams have not played before but Samoa have a far greater pedigree when it comes to world rugby. They have matched up against and beaten some of the top nations over the past few decades, though their recent form is not that fantastic.

Russia, of course, are playing their second match at this tournament, and they showed plenty of grit losing 30-10 in the tournament opener against the hosts Japan. If they can maintain that defensive intensity, they should be able to prevent a blowout result.

Check out our team previews to get the latest form, our tips for leading try-scorer from each team and where we think they will finish in the tournament.

Russia
Samoa

Here are our free picks, odds and predictions for day 5 of the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

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Match 9: Pool A – Russia v Samoa

Kick-off: 7.15pm local time (GMT +9)
Venue: Kumagaya Rugby Stadium
Previous World Cup 2019 matches:
Russia: Japan 30 (Kotaro Matsushima 3, Pieter Labuschagne tries; Rikiya Matsuda, Yu Tamura con, Tamura 2 pens) d Russia 10 (Kirill Golosnitskiy try; Yuri Kushnarev con, pen). Referee: Nigel Owens.
Samoa: First game

Head to head odds: Russia $41, Samoa $1
Handicap line odds: Russia (+29.5 points) $1.91, Samoa (-29.5 points) $1.91
Russia v Samoa prediction: We think Samoa will win this game comfortably, but it is the Russians’ best chance left in the tournament, with matches to follow against Ireland and Scotland. They will throw everything they have at the Samoans.

Best bets for Russia v Samoa RWC2019 match

Russia +29.5 points at $1.91

Check out our link above to leading sportsbooks. The scoring has been a little more subdued than we expected in this tournament so far and no reason the Russians can’t stay within striking distance in this one, especially if forecast rain arrives. Russia should turn it into a gritty forward battle. While we think Samoa will have too much quality, we think Russia can win at the line.

Anytime try-scorer Alapati Leiua

Alapati Leiua is a quality outside back and this bet should be paying somewhere around $2.50 with most of the leading international bookmakers.

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