Weekend Review: Rugby World Cup softens Premier League losses

It was a weekend of two sports for the bookies as they mopped up with a series of upsets in the Rugby World Cup before paying out to Premier League punters.

The Rugby World Cup provided two big results for layers over the weekend as Japan beat Ireland 19-12 before Australia lost 25-29 to Wales.

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Betway’s Chad Yeomans said: “Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau was blasting out of the office yesterday as Wales held off a well-backed in-play Wallabies team.

“It was a very fine weekend for us overall, with Japan’s stunning win a great result both for us and for local engagement with the tournament.

Not every match ended with a surprise result however, as a much-fancied South Africa side destroyed their nearby neighbours Namibia 57-3.

“A 57-3 score may not seem particularly thrilling but Namibia covering the handicap against their illustrious neighbours to the south was a big result for us on the handicap market,” Yeomans added.

Kindred Group’s Ali Gill said of the tournament: “A win for Wales over the much-fancied Aussies left us a healthy margin as we came out ahead in all four of the matches between Friday and Sunday.

“Japan’s win over Ireland was unsurprisingly another big result in a good tournament so far.”

At exchange bookie Betdaq, one punter lost five figures after a big back of Ireland.

Betdaq’s Mark Harkin said: “It’s been a hugely entertaining start to the Rugby World Cup, with plenty of action on the exchange over the opening stages of the tournament.

“Japan’s win over Ireland was a huge shock and cost one Betdaq trader five figures after they backed the Irish with £10,490 at 1.06.”

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Rugby World Cup celebrations were short-lived for the bookies however as Premier League results left most layers in the red.

Liverpool, Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham carved out routine wins with barely an upset in sight, much to the delight of the acca-backers.

Betway’s Yeomans said: “Football punters had a good weekend with Liverpool, Man City, Tottenham and Chelsea all doing the business for favourite backers.

“Very few punters predicted Leicester’s 5-0 thrashing of a poor Newcastle team, none of which was helped by a first half red card for the Toon.

“Undoubtedly the biggest match of the weekend takes place tonight with Man United hosting Arsenal, in a game which punters will get stuck into.”

Ladbrokes’ Alex Apati is hoping for a stalemate this evening. He said: “City, Liverpool, Spurs and Chelsea all winning worked out well for heavy odds-on acca backers, so we could do with a draw tonight at Old Trafford.

Another good victory in a tough place. Well done boys @gabrieljesus33 @sterling7 pic.twitter.com/ptEccJkDXy

— Kevin De Bruyne (@KevinDeBruyne) September 28, 2019

It was a similar story at Kindred Group, where the operator lost out on all nine Premier League fixtures over the weekend.

Gill said: “A clean sweep for punters this weekend in the Premier League as they cleaned up, winning on all of the nine games played with all the big boys winning too to add accas to our misery.

“Sheffield United’s 1-0 loss to Liverpool was our biggest event, although City’s 3-1 win over Everton was our biggest loser in the book.

“The derby between Real Madrid and Atletico however was our biggest overall event of the weekend and a 0-0 draw there is as good as it gets for bookies.”