After an absence of eight years, the rugby league World Cup is back with the 2008 tournament already underway in Australia.  The event is not held regularly and is overshadowed by the more popular rugby union world cup in the UK, but in Australia rugby league is still more popular than union.

There are 10 teams contesting the tournament including the mighty Australia, England, New Zealand, France and qualifiers such as Samoa, Papua New Guinea , Scotland and Ireland.

The tournament is much less open than the rugby union world cup with only two nations previously winning the trophy – Australia and Great Britain (before the British nations were split up into separate teams).

Australia are again the strong favourites as they still have the best team and have dominated the sport over the years having won 8 out of the ten previous world cup competitions, including the last five in a row, but will they make it six in a row on home soil?

The bookmakers certainly believe so, as all the major bookmakers have the Aussies as clear favourites to hold on to their title.  If you want to place a bet on Australia, then Coral are offering the best odds at the moment of all the major bookmakers, with a price of 1/4*.

England stand the best chance of taking the world cup off the Australians.   The English squad is full of experienced players and features 8 of the Leeds Rhinos side that won the Super League in 2007.  England played the opening game of the world cup against Papua New Guinea in their Pool A group game.  They got off to a disappointing start but still managed to run out 32-22 winners. 

It should be remembered, however, that the England rugby union team also got off to a slow start in last year’ tournament but turned their form around to reach the final after being written off.

England will face much tougher challenges in their next two group games as Australia and New Zealand are also in Pool A.

You will currently get odds of 13/2* on England upsetting the party to win the World Cup with four bookmakers including Stan James and totesport.

New Zealand are third favourites with most bookmakers to win the world cup and have lost to Australia in the past two finals.  Stan James actually have them as second favourites above England but you will currently get the best odds with betfair offering a price of13/1*.

It would be one of the greatest sporting upsets of all time if one of the other teams in the tournament were to win this tournament.   Samoa are 73/1* with Betdaq and France are 299/1* with betfair, with even greater odds on the five other teams doing the unthinkable.

*Odds are correct as of time of writing.

  

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