DON'T MISS 17:45 CUT OFF!

The penultimate round of group matches in the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC) in France kicks off at 17:45 this Wednesday, when Uruguay and Namibia square up in Lyon. For TAB4Racing customers with a liking for rugby, there’s a must-play bet in a treble carryover Rugby 8 Win Margin on the eight fourth-round clashes.

The pool is already open for betting and is on track to total well over R100,000 after starting with a R75,583 carryover. Just don’t forget that you must get your bet on before Wednesday afternoon’s game kicks off. Rugby 8 is challenging, but it’s a fun wager that cranks up the excitement and there’s big money to be won as the RWC heads towards the knockout stages. To win Rugby 8, predict the winning team and margin of victory in each of eight games. Go to www.tab4racing.com and click on Rugby on the top navigation bar to access the bet and don’t forget to simultaneously opt into TAB’s Rugby World Cup competition on Rugby 8. There’s no entry fee - simply opt in and play a Rugby 8 to put yourself in the running for weekly prizes, including a Springbok jersey and a VIP day at the races for the overall competition winner.

This fourth-round Rugby 8 looks easier to win than in the previous three rounds because several of the matches look straightforward in terms of predicting the winners. New Zealand should dispose of Italy on Friday night and Argentina must beat Chile convincingly the next day to stay on track to qualify for a quarter-final berth. And the same day Scotland will go all out to beat Romania by a wide margin because they need the maximum five points from the Pool B encounter to have any chance of progressing to the quarter-finals.

Then on Sunday South Africa should beat Tonga and must run in at least four tries in the process in order to increase their total of points in the Pool B table to 15, which will secure their quarter-final slot. Any thoughts of giving a maximum number of first-choice players the night off are out the window in the wake of the loss to Ireland. Tonga are very physical and no walkover, so expect many of the Bok big guns to play or be on the bench. And it’s an opportunity to give fly-half Handre Pollard a run ahead of the quarters, although injuries are always a worry in a clash with Tonga.

TAB will operate a Rugby Super 6 pool on the Springboks against Tonga. The bet comprises six legs and there are various outcomes that must be predicted to win, including the jersey numbers of the players who score South Africa’s first and last tries in the game, and how the Boks’ first points will be scored and so on. There are also Try Scorer bets on each of the eight matches.