Super 15 betting

Australia, New Zealand and South Africa are the powerhouses of world rugby and when the nations collide in Super 15 rugby, the results are spectacular.

After starting as the Super 10, then Super 12 and later growing into the Super 14 competition, it then expanded to 15 teams for the 2011 season and has been rebranded as Super Rugby. Australia provides six teams, South Africa and New Zealand five each.

Prior to 2011, Super Rugby was a round robin competition where each team played every other team once. There were 91 regular season games and matches were held over 14 weekends with each team receiving one bye.

This year, the format has changed, with the three countries forming their own conferences. Teams within the conference will now play each other home and away. They will also play four out of five teams from the other pools once. The Super Rugby finals will feature six teams, the top teams in each conference plus the three next teams with the highest total number of points. The top two ranked teams will receive a bye at the start of the playoffs.

The schedule is brutal with fixtures coming thick and fast and, as teams charge to top the standings, so rugby betting increases in intensity.

Super 15 betting on conference winners is an easy start, but it pays to keep an eye on the tournament’s history.

The South African Bulls have won the last two final matches and the odds on them repeating their success of 2010 should be investigated. Super rugby betting on the results of individual matches is a good way to start your predictions and UK internet customers should scour the abundant ranks of internet bookmakers offering free bets to start them off.

Sky's blanket coverage of the tournament means punters will never be short of tips as the Southern Hemisphere moves in to do battle each weekend. Of course, this also means that live Super 15 betting highlights are plentiful.

Rugby betting starts with a match result of course, but Super 15 betting markets are wide open – anything from leading scorer to who will notch the most tries – they’re all there in the online Super 15 betting markets.

Furthermore, if talk of an Argentine team joining soon comes to fruition in 2012 then the schedule is going to get all the more interesting. Super 15 bets sit nicely with domestic betting, so punters may wish to marry up Southern Hemisphere SupeRugby betting with Premiership matches and investigate the odds on combination bets.

As one sports writer said: "Super 15 betting is all about the predictor getting on target with his research. Punters should study fixtures before making their final bet. Tips and predictions that come good are the result of good leg work and Super rugby betting is no different to any other sport where research is concerned. The distances travelled by these teams mean the home side should always start as favourite for SupeRugby betting tips, and the confident predictor will also factor in how international matches are going to affect Super 15 bets.

"As the technology available moves on in leaps and bounds, this is going to be a big year for live Super 15 betting and especially online Super 15 betting.

"New Zealand teams have won the tournament a record 10 times, but the recent South African domination of the tournament shows the ever changing nature of the game. A Super 15 bet on the Boks to continue their domination could be rewarding, but one thing is for sure, Super 15 betting is a growth market offering fantastic potential.”