Wales v France betting tips, odds, predictions – RWC 2019 quarter-final 3

Wales emerge as contenders for Rugby World Cup

Welcome to our free predictions and odds update for the third quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup between Wales and France at Oita Stadium on Sunday, October 20.

The winners of this match will play the winners of the fourth quarter-final between Japan and South Africa in a semi-final at International Stadium Yokohama on Sunday, October 27.

Wales have been installed short-priced favourites to beat France, who have been a little patchy in this Rugby World Cup despite remaining undefeated.

Les Bleus only scrambled over the line in their matches against Argentina and Tonga, but they have played some dazzling running rugby at times and their RWC history suggests they are at their most dangerous when the weight of expectation is on the opposition.

Wales are also undefeated and were only truly test by Australia, in a match they were probably a little fortunate to get away with.

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Quarter-final 1: England v Australia betting preview
Quarter-final 2: New Zealand v Ireland betting preview
Quarter-final 4: Japan v South Africa betting preview

The most recent match between Wales and France gives a good insight into what to expect in this clash. It was in the Six Nations earlier this year in Paris, and the French led 16-0 at half-time before Wales wore them down late to win 24-19. France have shown a propensity to drop in the final quarter of games during this World Cup and they can’t let that happen if they want to advance to the semi-finals.

France five-eighth Romain Ntamack told Reuters on Monday they had learned a lesson from that Six Nations loss heading into Sunday’s quarter-final.

“We must turn it to our advantage,” Ntamack said. “We had a great first half. We put them in trouble. We have to correct things. We only played 40 minutes against them. This time, we’ll need to play for 80 minutes – more even. And least 80 minutes.”

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

Wales
France

Here are our Wales v France predictions and odds for their clash at the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.

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Rugby World Cup quarter-final 3 – Wales v France

Kick-off: 4.15pm local time (GMT +9)
Venue: Oita Stadium

Wales v France odds

Head to head odds: Wales $1.32, France $3.35
Handicap line odds: Wales (-6.5 points) $1.91, France (+6.5 points) $1.91

Wales v France – past 10 meetings

March 19, 2011: France 28 d Wales 9, Stade de France, Paris
October 15, 2011: France 9 d Wales 8, Eden Park, Auckland, New Zealand
March 17, 2012: Wales 16 d France 9, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
February 9, 2013: Wales 16 d France 6, Stade de France, Paris
February 21, 2014: Wales 27 d France 6, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
February 28, 2015: Wales 20 d France 13, Stade de France, Paris
February 26, 2016: Wales 19 d France 10, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
March 18, 2017: France 20 d Wales 18, Stade de France, Paris
March 17, 2018: Wales 14 d France 13, Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
February 1, 2019: Wales 24 d France 19, Stade de France, Paris

Previous World Cup 2019 matches:

Wales:
Wales 43 (Jonathan Davies, Justin Tipuric, Josh Adams, Liam Williams, Tomos Williams, George North tries; Dan Biggar 4 cons, 1 pen, Leigh Halfpenny con) d Georgia 14 (Shalva Mamukashvili, Levan Chilachava; Tedo Abzhandadze 2 cons). Referee: Luke Pearce.
Wales 29 (Gareth Davies, Hadleigh Parkes tries; Daniel Biggar, Rhys Patchell cons, Patchell 3 pens, Biggar, Patchell drop goals) d Australia 25 (Adam Ashley-Cooper, Dane Haylett-Petty, Michael Hooper tries; Matt To’omua 2 cons, Bernard Foley, To’omua pens). Referee: Romain Poite.
Wales 29 (Josh Adams 3, Liam Williams tries; Daniel Biggar 2, Rhys Patchell cons, Patchell pen) d Fiji 17 (1 penalty try, Kini Murimurivalu, Josua Tuisova tries). Referee: Jerome Garces.
Wales 35 (1 penalty try; Josh Adams, Gareth Davies, Nicky Smith, Tomos Williams tries; Leigh Halfpenny 4 cons) d Uruguay 13 (German Kessler try; Felipe Berchesi con, 2 pens). Referee: Angus Gardner.

France:
France 23 (Antoine Dupont, Gael Fickou tries; Romain Ntamack 2 cons, 2 pens, Camille Lopez drop goal) d Argentina 21 (Julian Montoya, Guido Petti tries; Nicolas Sanchez con, Benjamin Urdapilleta 2, Sanchez pens). Referee: Angus Gardner.
France 33 (Gael Fickou, Yoann Huget, Jefferson Poirot, Alivereti Raka, Baptiste Serin tries; Camille Lopez 3, Thomas Ramos cons) d USA 9 (AJ MacGinty 3 pens). Referee: Ben O’Keeffe.
France 23 (Alivereti Raka, Virimi Vakatawa tries; Romain Ntamack 2 cons, 3 pens) d Tonga 21 (Mali Hingano, Zane Kapeli, Sonatane Takulua tries; Takulua 2, Latiume Fosita cons). Referee: Nic Berry.

Wales v France tips RWC2019

Alivereti Raka anytime try-scorer for France

The Fiji-born flyer has been a real handful for opposition teams in this tournament. The markets had not been released at the time of publication but we expect to be able to secure somewhere around $2.80 for this bet. He has scored two tries in three matches so far and has been close to scoring a few more. Raka and Gael Fickou loom as real attacking weapons against a Wales team that has conceded a few too many tries for our liking.

France/Wales half-time/normal time double

We can see this match following the script of previous encounters between these teams and also France’s earlier matches in this tournament. Les Bleus are a young, developing team and they are prone to make fast starts and drop off late. Most bookmakers have this option of France to lead at half-time and Wales to win the game in normal time around $6.50. Of course, France are aiming to break this pattern but we were alarmed by the way they fell away late against Tonga. Five more minutes and the Tongans may well have been celebrating a famous victory. Same goes for the match against Argentina.

Wales v France prediction

It has not all been smooth sailing for Wales in this tournament, despite their unbeaten record. They deserve plaudits for winning all four games after losing attack coach Rob Howley on the eve of the tournament when he was sent home for a betting rule breach. France similarly have not won over punters with their hot-and-cold play, so these teams are probably glad with where they have wound up in the draw for the quarter-finals. Wales have won seven of the past 10 games against France but a lot of these have gone down to the wire. We expect Wales to finish slightly stronger and win a nailbiter. Whichever team gets through has a genuine shot at reaching the final, with South Africa looming as likely semi-final opponents. Good punting.

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