Ireland vs Romania Prediction & Betting Tips - Rugby World Cup

Prediction published on 07/09/2023, 08:45  by Devesh Jaganath | Modified on 09/09/2023 at 01:30 in Rugby World Cup Prediction

Pool B in the 2023 Rugby World Cup will kick off with Ireland taking on Romania on Saturday afternoon. Ireland are the number one ranked side in the world while Romania are 19th. The Irish have been incredible over the last 12 months and come into this competition as one of the favourites to win the Webb Ellis Cup. They took the Six Nations title off France earlier in the year, winning each of their five matches in the competition. The Wolfhounds also brought an end to Les Bleus's 12-match winning streak and displaced them from the number-one ranking in that competition. After beating Italy 33-17 and England 29-10 in the warm-up matches, Ireland have now extended their own win streak to 14 matches. While they may have fallen in the bookmakers' odds in recent weeks, the Irish team has arguably been the most settled of any leading up to the World Cup. Not to mention, they are also carrying the longest active win streak of any nation competing in this competition. 

Meanwhile, Romania are returning to the World Cup stage for the first time since 2015 following their disqualification in the 2019 competition. They finished third in the Europe 2 qualification process but replaced Spain in second place after the Spaniards were handed a points reduction. In the lead-up to this competition, Romania played three warm-up matches but failed to win any. They were beaten 31-17 by the USA, 56-6 by Georgia, and 57-7 by the Italians. The Oaks' last win against a tier one team came in 2004 over Italy, and they managed just one victory in total over their last two World Cup campaigns. Romania are the ranked outsider to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup.