Punter one step closer to bold ABs bet

By Luke Kirkness

A cunning punter is one step closer to winning a profit of $25,000 after betting the All Blacks would not make it out of the pool stage of the Rugby World Cup.

Putting $250 on the All Blacks to fall short on Thursday at $101, New Zealand has since dropped to $12 in that market after the 27-13 loss to France on Saturday.

TAB head of betting Nick Conway was convinced the punter would watch the remaining Pool A matches “with a whole stack of interest”.

There is a chance too, albeit a small one, that the All Blacks don’t make it to the quarter-finals.

Italy leads Pool A with five points after its 52-8 win over Namibia, which includes a bonus point, with France in second on four points. Uruguay is yet to play its first match - meanwhile, the All Blacks and Namibia are at the bottom of the pool, but the latter has a bigger plus-minus, with -44 compared to -14.

Bonus points could be the difference for the Italians.

Four points are awarded for a win at the World Cup, two points for a draw, a try bonus is awarded for a team that scores four or more tries in a match, and a losing bonus point is awarded to a team that loses by seven or fewer points.

A win for the Italians in their final pool match against the French could send the Kiwis packing, meaning the All Blacks will want to win convincingly when the two sides face off on September 30.

Meanwhile, the opening match of the World Cup was the All Blacks’ first World Cup pool round loss ever, with punters across the TAB playing it safe since the match at Stade de France.

France has since firmed from $4 to win the tournament from $3.50, as well as South Africa - who won 18-3 over Scotland - from $4.50 to $3.75, while the loss to New Zealand saw them slide from $3.50 to $4.50.

Conway said there had been no large bets on the outright winners’ market in the last few days.

“The biggest bet in that market was placed back in March, with $20,000 on France at $3.25. The All Blacks remained popular from July through to early September, with one $10,000 bet and three $5000 bets on the ABs during that time.

“It’s usually a better day for TAB punters when the All Blacks win, but we still had a few backers of France paying out about $350,000 across the main markets like Match Result, Winning Team and Margin and the Head-to-Head after the victory for the hosts.”

This article was first published on nzherald.co.nz and is republished here with permission