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The quadrennial world championship for men's rugby union teams begins tonight with a mammoth clash between host nation France and the formidable New Zealand All-Blacks.

In what is billed as perhaps the greatest opening fixture of a Rugby World Cup ever, but who are the betting favourites to go all the way and win the trophy?

Tonight's curtain-raiser is a special one as it features two of the legitimate favourites for the tournament, with host nation France, the All Blacks and South Africa all equally priced up at 3/1 on the Outright fixed odds.

The match at the Stade de France will also signal the start of the eighth RWC clash between Les Bleus and the All Blacks - no fixture in the history of the RWC will have seen more completed games (NZ hold the advantage with 5 wins and just 2 losses).

In this feature, Spreadex Sports look at some of the key favourites for the trophy, as well as the betting odds for England to win a first RWC since 2003!

We take a look at the top favourites for the Tournament Winner Outright fixed odds market - which you can see here, while also not forgetting about our various spread betting markets for Rugby Union! You can view those here, and you can visit our learning materials for Rugby Union spread betting here.

TOURNAMENT WINNER (OUTRIGHT) - who will win THE 2023 RUGBY WORLD CUP?

So, who are the betting favourites and outsiders at the Rugby World Cup? As mentioned above, the tournament begins with three outright favourites at the same price - hosts France, along with defending champions South Africa and three-time champions New Zealand.

The three sides are priced at 3/1 on the fixed odds outright market, but on the spreads Outright Index France and New Zealand are priced up at 53 - 57 with South Africa slightly lower at 51 - 55. This market is settled in the following manner:

100 - Winner,

80 - Runner-Up,

60 - 3rd Place,

50, 4th Place,

25 - Losing Quarter-Final,

10 - 3rd Place in Pool Stage,

5 - 4th Place in Pool Stage,

0 - All Others. 

This means for example if you bought France at 57 and they win the trophy, you would win 43x your opening stake. However, even if they were the losing finalists you would win 23x your stake. Or, if you sold at 53 and they made a shock exit in the opening round with a 3rd place in the pool stages, you would win 43x your stake.

The betting favourites behind the leading three are Ireland (9/2), Australia (14/1) and England (16/1). The fifth match of the tournament will see England taking on Argentina in the opening game of Pool D on Saturday evening. In a pool alongside Japan, Samoa and World Cup debutants Chile, the two sides are expected to finish in the top two of the group.

Therefore, the winner of that match will put themselves in an early pole position to take on the second-placed team from Pool C in the quarter finals.

Pre-tournament preparation has been less than ideal for England though with suspensions for captain Owen Farrell and number eight Billy Vunipola (both of who remain unavailable for this opener) during the Summer Nations Series games.

The inclusion of scrum-half Alex Mitchell and winger Jonny May in the XV for this Saturday - both players who were not named in the original 33-man squad - shows some signs of disarray in the camp.

However, England have had a strong overall record against Argentina with 19 victories, just 5 defeats and one draw. They have also made winning starts in each of their last seven finals - including wins over Argentina in 1995 and 2011.

England also finished as runners-up in 2019, as well as runners-up in the last World Cup held in France. Can they repeat that feat here or go one step further? They are available at 10/1 to finish runners-up once again.

You can view all of the latest betting prices and markets for the tournament by clicking here.

2023 RUGBY WORLD CUP tournament & TEAM SPREADS MARKETS

Besides our fixed odds outright markets, there will be plenty of spread betting action on offer with Spreadex too. We will have a range of tournament markets such as Forecasts, Top Teams, Top Tryscorer and more! We also have Team Markets which allow you to bet on various markets specific to each team, ranging from their Total Tournament Points, Stage of Elimination and Top Team Tryscorer.

And, of course, we will have our full range of regular spreads markets for each match including Multi-Points, Try Rush, Scrabbled Shirts and more! Don't forget to check out all of the latest prices and markets here.

Read more about rugby union spread betting here.