After a thrilling weekend of action at the Rugby World Cup, we’re now down to the last four teams, with Argentina, England, New Zealand, and South Africa set to battle it out in the semi-finals.
And as we approach the business end of the 2023 Rugby World Cup, the race is also on to be the top tournament try scorer.
With each of the four nations still in the tournament guaranteed to play two more games, is there any betting value lurking in the top try-scorer market?
Damian Penaud (6 Tries)
France’s Damian Penaud tops the try-scoring charts currently, but after losing out to South Africa in Sunday evening’s thrilling quarter-final at the Stade de France, Penaud will not be adding to his try tally.
Sitting as the 9/4 second favourite with bet365, Penaud looks like a sitting duck at the top of the scoring charts with four players still in the tournament sitting on five tries.
Will Jordan (5 Tries)
Jordan is a constant threat for New Zealand, and the winger bagged a brace of tries against Uruguay and Italy in the pool stages before scoring a superbly worked try against Ireland in Saturday’s quarter-final.
The All Blacks star is a certain starter against Argentina in Friday’s semi-final and will fancy his chances of scoring against a Puma defence that’s leaked 94 points in their last two clashes with New Zealand.
He’s the 7/4 favourite at bet365 to be the top try scorer come the end of the Rugby World Cup, and in the form he’s in, he looks like a solid bet to do just that.
Leicester Faingaanuku (5 Tries)
Faingaanuku also scored four tries in the pool stages for New Zealand, with one against Namibia before running in three against Uruguay.
And like Jordan, he also scored in Saturday’s victory over Ireland to move onto five tries.
The winger started against Ireland because Mark Telea was dropped for a disciplinary issue. Telea could come back into the All Blacks starting lineup on Friday at Faingaanuku’s expense.
Henry Arundell (5 Tries)
Arundell scored all five of his tries in England’s demolition of Chile in the pool stages and did not make the match-day squad for his nation’s quarter-final victory over Fiji.
He’s unlikely to make the squad for their semi-final clash with South Africa, but he could be unleashed in the Bronze Medal match if England fail to seal a spot in the final.
