
Rugby World Cup 2023 Top Try Scorer Odds: Springboks star can claim award

With bookmakers beginning to offer more and more markets for the hotly anticipated Rugby World Cup set to begin in September, there is plenty of punting opportunity for those who love an antepost tournament tickle. Always one of the most popular markets, the top try-scorer odds are out now with a range of betting sites and Billy Grimshaw is keen to back a speedy Springbok to flourish in France…
When betting on tournament top scorers and player props in general, it is of paramount importance to check the big team’s potential route to glory. We always see a player from a well fancied side scoop this award due to their potential for a battering or two in the groups before having more matches to add to their tally when advancing.
Although in 2015 Julian Savea of the All Blacks won the award by scoring eight and playing every game possible, it is not always the case that the most prolific man to cross the try line comes from the World Cup winning team. In 2019 Josh Adams of Wales scooped the gong with seven despite his side being edged out of the tournament at the semi final stage by eventual champions South Africa.
In 2011 Chris Ashton of England and Vincent Clerc of France shared the prize with six tries and both men saw their sides leave the World Cup at the semi-final stage as well, so the strategy I am undertaking is looking for a team that have potential to cause chaos in the group stages against weaker opposition before the intensity ratchets up in the knockout games between the behemoths.
Rugby World Cup Top Try Scorer Tips:
Will Jordan is the latest in a long line of try scoring greats for the All Blacks and heads the market for the top try scorer award at 15/2 at the time of writing. So far in the 25 year old’s international career he is operating at a brilliant try-per-game ratio (22 in 22) and with Pool A looking tasty in terms of big score lines for both NZ and hosts France, he is a worthy favourite to follow in Savea and Lomu’s footsteps.
At a similar price comes another try scoring extraordinaire who will be terrorising Pool A defences and that is hometown hero Damian Penaud. Cheered on by an expectant French crowd the hosts will be eager to get off to a flying star both by beating New Zealand in a blockbuster opener to the tournament before smashing up Uruguay, Namibia and Italy before the knockouts begin. Panaud will be a major outlet for points for France and his shortening odds are no surprise.
Relative newbie Mark Talea is another All Blacks wing wizard and although he only has three caps thus far, he has bagged two tries in that time and looks a menace to defend against. Jordan and Talea could conceivably be having a battle of their own to finish top try scorer if the All Blacks play to their potential and his credentials are clear, with his price just a touch bigger than the first two players mentioned.
Albeit there is a strong case for backing all three of the players above, especially with plenty of firms paying as many as six places each-way on this market, none of them have the sheer level of superstardom as reigning world champion try scoring talisman CHESLIN KOLBE. The Springboks are not the force of 2019 admittedly but their side still looks strong and well balanced, and they are one of the most difficult teams to stop once beginning a roll.
Placed in Pool B for the tournament, their acid test will be a clash with Ireland but outside of Andy Farrell’s Grand Slam winners this pool looks ripe for the picking. Romania could be serious whipping boys and Tonga, although improving, shouldn’t have enough to trouble the big two. Uruguay are another side that look there for the beating and with South Africa rampant when on song I’m expecting them to rack up plenty of big scores and Kolbe to be one of the prime beneficiaries.
To call the versatile Springboks back rapid would be an understatement and although he only bagged three tries in 2019 as the South Africans lifted their second World Cup, he will be hoping to better that tally by at least a couple in France. The hot stepper as he has been dubbed (it’s easy to see why if watching the video at the bottom of this article) should have plenty of fun throughout this tournament and if his dancing feet create a gap for himself, nobody is catching the tiny twister.
The best of the rest and a fresh angle
Rugby has always been a game in which the forwards do the tough stuff and the pretty boy backs get the adulation after scoring the points. This has been the way since the sport was concocted way back in the late 1800s, but in recent years a seismic shift has begun and instead of the wingers and their back brothers dominating the scoring charts, hookers and props are crossing the whitewash with a lot more regularity.
Now the shift has not quite gone 180 degrees just yet and the majority of teams at the Rugby World Cup will still favour their speedsters on the outside as the trusted route to the try line, but in particular the nations in the weaker side of the draw could see plenty of try scoring joy in the middle of the park and that is why I will be adding another Springbok in MALCOLM MARX to the staking plan.
Our good friends at BoyleSports are paying ani industry best EIGHT places on this market and with the Irish firm also offering best odds of 40/1 on South African's dynamite hooker, I'll chuck a few quid his way in the hope this World Cup sees more forward five pointers than ever before...