Winning members of England's 2003 Rugby World Cup winning side with the Webb Ellis Cup
The Rugby World Cup is the world's most prestigious and premier International Rugby Union competition. The event is organised by Rugby Union's governing body, the International Rugby Board (IRB), and is contested by the Men's National Rugby teams from all over the world.
The first Rugby World Cup was held in 1987 and was joint hosted by Australia and New Zealand, and the event has been held every 4 years, similarly to other Sporting World Cups, with the next Rugby World Cup taking place this year, in 2011.
The winning Nation of the Rugby World Cup is awarded the William Webb Ellis Cup, named after the Rugby School pupil who, according to popular myth, invented the game of Rugby by picking up the ball during a game akin to one of many codes of medieval football.
Qualification for the Rugby World Cup will determine which Nations take part in the Rugby World Cup finals held in the Summer every 4 years. 91 Nations took part in the Qualification for the 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup with only 20 Nations to take part in the Finals of the event.
Until recently, the previous tournament's Quarter-Finalists all received Automatic Qualification for the tournament in four year's time. This has been changed for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, so that Nations that finished in the top three of each of the 2007 Rugby World Cup group stage pools received Automatic Qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. Therefore 12 out of 20 Nations received Automatic Qualification for the 2011 Rugby World Cup.
Seven of the remaining 8 Qualification spots are spread among the Qualifying continents, who each hold their own tournaments to determine who will appear at the Rugby World Cup. Two spots are awarded each for Europe and Americas, and one each for Asia, Africa and Oceania. The remaining 1 Qualification spot is awarded to the winner of a playoff that includes the third place teams from the American and European qualification tournaments.
Following the qualification process, the following Nations have qualified for the 2011 Rugby World Cup: Argentina, Australia, England, Fiji, France, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Scotland, South Africa, Tonga, Wales, Canada, Georgia, Japan, Namibia, Romania, Russia, Samoa and the United States.
The 2011 IRB Rugby World Cup begins on the 9th September 2011, when hosts New Zealand play Tonga in Auckland. The tournament is set to continue throughout September and the Final of the 2011 Rugby World Cup will take place on 23rd October 2011 - with knock-out stages set to begin on the 8th of October.
Free Rugby Union Bets for the IRB Rugby World Cup
Rugby Union fans can qualify for free bets on the Rugby World Cup when registering an account with many of the online bookmakers competing for new customers on the Internet. The Rugby World Cup has huge TV audience in addition to sell out attendances and betting interest on the competition is also very big, as evidenced by the number and variety of betting markets advertised by bookmakers.
The 2007 Rugby World Cup had a cumulative world television audience of 4.2 billion viewers for the 48 matches that took place in France. There was an average attendance of 47,150 per match at the event and a total attendance of over 2 and a quarter million Rugby fans.
Interest in the Rugby World Cup will spur many Rugby Union fans to add to the excitement of watching their favourite teams and players by having a bet on the outcome of the competition or the some of the individual games. Online bookmakers will allow free bet awards to be placed on any of the betting markets on the Rugby World Cup.
The 2011 Rugby World Cup is set to surpass all these figures as the winners of the first ever Rugby World Cup, New Zealand, host the event for the second time since 1987. New Zealand also host the Rugby World Cup having one failed to make the Semi-Finals once in the history of the competition, and red hot favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Cup this summer.
The Rugby World Cup is one of the largest international sporting competitions in the world, and continues to grow in popularity. Free Betting is available on a number of different markets for the 2011 Rugby World Cup, including Top Tournament Try Scorer, Top Tournament Team Try Scorers, individual match odds, handicap odds, winning points margin, first Try Scorer and Outright Winning Nation markets.
These are traditionally the most popular Rugby World Cup betting markets and Internet bettors can place their free Rugby Union bets on any of these markets, as well as a number of other betting markets.
Many online bookmakers are promoting the new applications they have developed for smartphones to allow customers to bet and keep up to date with their account while at the game or when out and about. To encourage customers to try out the apps, some online bookmakers have been offering a free bet to place from the account holder’s smartphone.
Betting tips for your Rugby World Cup Free Bets
With 48 Rugby World Cup matches available, it brings with it hundreds of betting markets. Many Rugby Union fans place a number of bets during the course of the competition that spans across most of September and October. It undoubtedly makes sense for many of those Internet bettors to have accounts with multiple online bookmakers, to earn the most free bets and obtain the best in betting odds.
The free bets alone massively improve the chances of making a profit from betting on the Rugby World Cup and once the free Rugby World Cup bets have been invested it makes sense to shop around for the best odds for those bets that will be paid for.
There are a number of different free bets offers available and new customers should consider which free bet offers are most appropriate:
- Risk Free bets, where the bookmaker will refund your stake if your first bet loses, typically worth £5 - £30 in free bets
- Match bets, where the bookmaker will award a free bet to the same value as your first bet stake, typically worth £10 - £50 free bets
- Deposit Bonus, the bookmaker will credit new accounts with a percentage of the initial deposit, typically worth £50 - £200 free bets.
There will be conditions applied, such as the odds for qualifying bets, which are typically 1/5 (1.2) to evens (2.0). Some free bet offers have rollover requirements, the bigger free bet offers will entail the deposit and/or free bets to be invested a number of times before being withdrawn from the account.
Get more information about the restrictions and terms of free bet offers from the FREE BETS section at best free bets.
Look out for special bookmaker bonuses and offers on the Rugby World Cup which can boost your winnings or offer some 'insurance' against picking a losing selection by giving free bet refunds and consolations.
You can subscribe to our Newsletter from this page and keep up to date with all the latest free bet offers on the Rugby World Cup and other major sporting events including the latest introductory offers from newly added bookmakers.