Scotland World Cup Rugby betting preview

Scotland are rated around $51 long-shots with online betting sites to win the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan but only $1.18 to reach the quarter-finals.

And that just about sums up where we think they will fit in at this World Cup: a rock-solid side capable of overpowering the lesser national teams and always competitive with the big guns, yet not quite able to cause the big shocks on a regular basis.

Scotland are around the $3.25 mark to win Group A, which is not bad value as many expect it to be a race in two between them and Ireland, who they historically are evenly matched with.

But also they would not want to take a couple of other group rivals lightly. Japan will be riding a wave of emotion and have come a long, while Samoa are a wildcard although Scotland’s lone defeat against them occurred many years ago.

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Where Scotland will finish in the 2019 Rugby World Cup

WGL prediction: Scotland. Quarter-finals. We expect Scotland to avoid slipping up at the group stage, and even to win their group. But they are then likely to come up against New Zealand or South Africa and that’s where the journey will end.

Previous best World Cup result: Semi-final 1991. Lost third-place playoff.

Scotland’s remaining pre-World Cup fixtures

August 31: Georgia v Scotland, Dinamo Arena, Tbilisi, Georgia
September 6: Scotland v Georgia, Murrayfield, Edinburgh

Scotland’s Rugby World Cup draw

Match 6: Ireland v Scotland, Sunday, Sep 22, Pool A, International Stadium Yokohama
Match 18: Scotland v Samoa, Monday, Sep 30, Pool A, Kobe Misaki Stadium
Match 31: Scotland v Russia, Wednesday, Oct 9, Pool A, Shizuoka Stadium Ecopa
Match 40: Japan v Scotland, Sunday, Oct 13, Pool A, International Stadium Yokohama

Scotland’s most recent results

February 2: Scotland 33 d Italy 20, Six Nations, Murrayfield, Edinburgh
February 9: Ireland 22 d Scotland 13, Six Nations, Murrayfield, Edinburgh
February 23: France 27 d Scotland 10, Six Nations, Stade de France, Paris
March 9: Wales 18 d Scotland 11, Six Nations, Murrayfield, Edinburgh
March 16: England 38 drew with Scotland 38, Six Nations, Twickenham, London
August 17: France 32 d Scotland 3, Nice, France
August 24: Scotland 17 d France 14, Murayfield, Edinburgh

Scotland’s record against Pool A rivals

Ireland: Played 136: won 67, lost 64, drawn 5. Points for: 1428, Points against: 1547
Japan: Played 7: won 7, lost 0. Points for: 313, Points against: 84
Russia: Played 0.:
Samoa: Played 11: won 9, lost 1, drawn 1. Points for: 298, Points against: 193

Scotland squad for the 2019 Rugby World Cup

Coach: Gregor Townsend

Forwards John Barclay, Simon Berghan, Fraser Brown, Scott Cummings, Allan Dell, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Stuart McInally, Willem Nel, Gordon Reid, Jamie Ritchie, Blade Thomson, Ben Toolis, George Turner, Hamish Watson, Ryan Wilson.

Backs Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Adam Hastings, Stuart Hogg, George Horne, Pete Horne, Sam Johnson, Blair Kinghorn, Greig Laidlaw, Sean Maitland, Ali Price, Finn Russell, Tommy Seymour, Duncan Taylor.

Leading try-scorer prediction for Scotland

Sean Maitland: The veteran Kiwi-born winger is always a threat. Scotland have not traditionally been a free-scoring outfit, but if they do rack up a few big scores early on, you can be sure Maitland won’t be far from the action.

Scotland RWC’19 predictions – can the thistle reach new heights?

The draw has not been kind to the Scots. Even if they win their group, their likely RWC’19 quarter-final opponents are the resurgent South Africa against whom they have won only five of 27 matches. Still, they are a battle-hardened outfit and will certainly not shy away from a contest with the Springboks. Need everything to go right. But we predict a Scotland win over the Springboks or All Blacks might be a bridge too far.

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