The best rugby betting sites bring League and Union fans a step closer to the excitement of their beloved hard-hitting games.
Below you can find the best rugby betting sites for punters of all shapes and sizes. Our selections have been ranked and reviewed by our betting sites experts, and each one offers free rugby bets when you sign up.
For the best rugby betting experience possible, we always advise signing up with a number of different online bookmakers.
There are a couple of reasons for this...
Below we’ve put some of the best rugby bookmakers and new betting sites under the microscope so you can decide which ones best suit your needs.
Founded in 2008 as part of iGaming giant 888 Group, 888sport initially made strides in the online casino and poker markets.
Today, 888sport is also a very popular sports betting site that has a knack for offering great bonuses to players. The site offers quality rugby union odds on British markets, Super Rugby AU, Super Rugby Aotearoa, the State of Origin Series and the NRL. Rugby league markets are a bit light, but 888sport make it up to fans in other ways.
The bookie runs markets on match winner, handicap, half-time/full-time, half-time result, first try converted, draw no bet and highest scoring half. And when tournaments are on, you can bet on who will lift the trophy outright. You can also punt on who will win the Rugby World Cup years in advance.
As for rugby league, 888sport offers match-winner markets on the Super League and National Rugby League (NRL) and also on international competitions.
BetVictor has a rich betting history.
The popular betting site was established in 2000, but the company behind it has been around since 1946. Named after Victor Chandler and now based in Gibraltar, BetVictor have a strong rugby union offering.
Outright bets are available on big tournaments alongside each-way bets that pay out on two places. BetVictor offer a trending bets section on the site and take bets on everything from the Six Nations to the European Champions Cup, European Challenge Cup, Premiership and more.
Further afield, the bookie covers competitions like the Currie Cup in South Africa and the biggest matches in Australia. You can bet on a home nation to win the Triple Crown or a team to go unbeaten and win the Grand Slam, with outright odds available ahead of the competition and updated after each fixture.
When it comes to rugby league betting, BetVictor have the latest odds on the Super League and Challenge Cup as well as the NRL and Rugby League World Cup. Rugby League betting markets include match betting, total points, winning margin, range of try scorer options and plenty of outright options.
The only slipping point is the site's betting interface, which could be easier to navigate.
bet365 is one of the world's biggest and best-known bookmakers.
Founded in 2000 in Stoke-on-Trent, bet365 offers comprehensive rugby betting markets across main, score, team, 1st half, and match betting as well as coupons. You can bet on all the big tournaments as well as smaller competitions such as the French Division 2.
You can bet on the nationality of the winner in the European Champions Cup, for example, and you can find outright options for men's and women's sevens rugby. bet365 also run a news site with regular rugby union articles posted by their team.
The rugby league markets offer up a number of options for big competitions like the NRL, such as the top non-NSW team, most losses and top 4 finish. And bet365 have plenty of Super League match betting markets, however there isn’t quite the same level of coverage as rugby union.
We have an in-depth review process that we put every betting site through in order to assess and rank the very best.
While some bookies will be stronger than others in certain areas, the best rugby betting sites tend to have the least weaknesses. Our areas of assessment include security and licensing, welcome bonuses and ongoing promotions, mobile experience, rugby odds and markets, payment methods, customer support and industry reputation.
We only recommend betting sites that are licensed and regulated in Great Britain by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC), because this body is regarded as the ultimate benchmark in gambling regulation. This way we know that players will be sure of betting in a safe and secure environment.
We also want to see the latest security measures being utilised on sites such as data encryption software to ensure your sensitive personal information isn’t at risk of being hacked or shared. The best sites will demonstrate commitment to responsible gaming too and include a number of tools that players can use to protect themselves.
We examine welcome offers before adding any betting site to our recommended list. In our opinion, it's not enough to offer new players a bog-standard welcome bonus.
If a betting site is serious about standing out from the pack, we want to see a high free bet value with unrestrictive terms and conditions. This means minimal wagering requirements, with the same going for minimum odds on qualifying bets.
Players want more than just welcome bonuses when signing up to a new bookie.
It’s also important to offer regular promotions and regular deals to existing players. These can come in the form of loyalty bonuses, free bets, enhanced odds, money-back deals or special promotions on big events.
We’ve found industry heavyweights like bet365 and 888sport to be reliable in this regard.
The majority of punters place wagers on their mobiles these days, so its crucial for the best rugby betting sites to offer fully-optimised and streamlined mobile betting experiences.
The best sites have downloadable betting apps for iOS and Android, offering swift loading times and user-friendly design.
We also like to see innovative features like touch ID, so bettors can log in, deposit funds and place bets with minimal fuss. We do include sites without betting apps, as long as they have an excellent mobile betting site you can access via web browser.
To gain a place on our list of recommended online betting sites, competitive rugby odds are a must.
We accept bookies use margins to gain an edge over the punter, but we take pride in helping you find value. During our review process, we compare and contrast odds from a host of providers, which allows us to separate the best-priced sites from the rest.
If you hold multiple betting accounts, you can compare prices and take advantage of the best odds when it suits you.
When it comes to selecting the best rugby betting sites, we believe the more variety on offer for punters the better their experience will be. We favour betting sites that offer the widest array of markets to bet on.
We want players to be able to place a bet on who will be the highest try scorer at a Rugby World Cup years before the competition starts, as well as every conceivable match bet on your Saturday afternoon Premiership clash.
Read More: Check out the best Rugby World Cup Betting Offers from top bookies today
The last thing we want is for a punter to win a bet and then not be able to withdraw their winnings to their preferred payment method.
These days we expect to see debit cards from Visa and MasterCard accepted, as well as e-wallets like PayPal, Trustly, Skrill, Neteller, Apple Pay and ecoPayz. It also helps if cryptocurrency options are permitted, while instant deposits are now a must and realistically withdrawals should be received within 48 hours.
The more customer support options available on rugby betting sites, the better.
24/7 live chat should come with quick response times. It’s still important to have email and toll-free phone numbers for bettors to use if they prefer, while some bookies will help customers out through their social media accounts.
All the best rugby betting sites in our recommended list have been thoroughly background checked to weed out any brands that have acted unfairly.
The sites with the longest and strongest reputations are favoured. We also keep an eye on what other bettors are saying about using them.
Despite the many differences between rugby union and rugby league, there are many overlaps when it comes to their popular betting markets.
Below are some of the most popular rugby betting markets that span both codes:
The world’s premier rugby league club competitions are the Super League in Europe and the National Rugby League (NRL) in Australasia.
The Super League runs during the summer months through the Magic Weekend and the play-offs right up until the Grand Final at Old Trafford. You can bet on individual matches across a range of markets as well as outrights like Regular Season Winner, Team to Finish Bottom, Regular Season Top Try Scorer and Man of Steel award.
The NRL sees Australia’s and New Zealand’s top 16 sides go head to head to lift the Provan-Summons Trophy. Popular markets here include Grand Final Winning Region, Most Losses in the Regular Season and Top 8 Finish in the Regular Season.
The game is played internationally by European, Australiasian and Pacific Island countries, with the Rugby League World Cup the pinnacle of the sport where the top 16 teams duke it out for the Paul Barriere Trophy. There are plenty of match betting markets here including Handicaps, Double Chance and Highest Scoring Half.
The best live betting sites allow punters to bet in-play on their favourite rugby league tournaments.
In terms of rugby union club competitions you have the Premiership in England, Top 14 in France, the Currie Cup in South Africa and League One in Japan.
You also have the United Rugby Championship (URC) involving clubs from Ireland, Italy, Scotland, South Africa, and Wales. Then there's Super Rugby Pacific involving clubs from Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.
In international rugby, the Six Nations is held every year in Europe between England, France, Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy, while the Rugby Championship pits New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and Argentina against one another.
The Rugby World Cup was first held in 1987 and takes place every four years and has only been won by New Zealand, South Africa (both three times), Australia (twice) and England (once).