The first of two Rugby World Cup matches taking place on Sunday is a Pool B clash between Scotland and Tonga in Nice and both sides are looking for their first log points of the tournament.
Scotland v Tonga, Sunday 24th September, Nice, KO 17:45 (South African time)
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Craig Evans (WRU)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Weather Forecast - Nice
Scotland:
Scotland sat out the second round and they return to action looking to bounce back from a 18-3 defeat to South Africa. They were given around 11.5 points start on the main handicap line by the bookmakers and only trailed 6-3 at half time but in truth they rarely threatened to score a try.
That defeat leaves Scotland struggling in Pool B and probably needing to win all their remaining matches, starting with this one, a clash with Romania should be straight forward but they finish up against Ireland.
Scotland's best return in RWC finals came back in 1991 when they finished fourth. In RWC 2019 they lost pool stages matches to Ireland and Japan (alongside wins over Russia and Samoa) and they failed to make the knockout rounds.
In the RWC outright betting Scotland are trading at around 87/1 to win the tournament with BoyleSports and they are 52/10 to qualify from Pool B. Click here to open an account and claim a welcome bonus up to R1000 plus R25 free spins
Tonga:
Tonga's first action came against Ireland last weekend and they crashed to a 59-16 defeat. That loss was greater than the main handicap line of 36.5 points, Vaea Fifita scored an early try for Tonga converted by Havili who also landed 3 penalties but they trailed 31-13 at half time and conceded 8 tries in total.
In RWC 2019 in Japan Tonga were drawn in a competitive pool. They lost 35-3 to England first up, then went down 28-12 to Argentina before they were edged out 23-21 by France. Their only win came against the USA (31-19).
As far as the RWC outright betting is concerned you Tonga are now 20/1 to qualify from Pool B with BoyleSports. Click here to open an account and claim a welcome bonus up to R1000 plus R25 free spins
Team News
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn, 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Chris Harris, 12 Sione Tuipulotu, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White, 8 Jack Dempsey, 7 Rory Darge, 6 Jamie Ritchie (c), 5 Scott Cummings, 4 Richie Gray, 3 Zander Fagerson, 2 George Turner, 1 Rory Sutherland
Replacements: 16 Ewan Ashman, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 WP Nel, 19 Sam Skinner, 20 Matt Fagerson, 21 George Horne, 22 Huw Jones, 23 Darcy Graham
Tonga: 15 Salesi Piutau, 14 Solomone Kata, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Pita Ahki, 11 Afusipa Taumoepeau, 10 William Havili, 9 Augustine Pulu, 8 Vaea Fifita, 7 Sione Talitui, 6 Tanginoa Halaifonua, 5 Sam Lousi, 4 Halaleva Fifita, 3 Ben Tameifuna (c), 2 Paula Ngauamo, 1 Siegfried Fisi’ihoi
Replacements: 16 Sam Moli, 17 Tau Koloamatangi, 18 Sosefo Apikotoa, 19 Adam Coleman, 20 Semisi Paea, 21 Sione Vailanu, 22 Sonatane Takulua, 23 Patrick Pellegrini
The Betting
21h25 22 September
Scotland -24.5 points at 9/10
Tonga +25.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
This handicap opened -20.5 and money has come to the Scots with some books -25.5 at the time of writing (Friday night).
Tonga put up some early resistance against Ireland, but in the end were swept away by over 40 points with Ireland beating the handicap.
Scotland have had a long rest since the opening defeat to the Boks and in a pool where points difference could yet play a role I am expecting them to be ruthless against this Tonga side. I am backing Scotland to pile on the points
Stay close to our forum thread where I will post any additional plays on this game and other punters share their bets
BET: 4 Units, Scotland over 41.5 points at 17/20 at Sportingbet*
*If you don’t have a Sportingbet account please use this link to open one
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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