Best Rugby Betting Sites 2026

Our Top 10 UK Rugby Betting Sites for 2026

Most sports betting sites are also rugby betting sites, which is understandable given that both forms of rugby are among the most popular sports to bet on in the UK.  

But as we all know, some sites are better than others for a specific sport. 

Let’s start by listing the 10 best rugby betting sites and consider what each one really excels at. 

Bet365 

Sometimes less is more, but when it comes to the number of markets available for betting on rugby, it’s a case of: the more the better. Why wouldn’t it be? Customers will have different needs and wants, and rugby betting sites that offer all their favourites are always going to be more popular. 

And no one offers more than Bet365. They include: Match Result (1X2), Handicap betting, Total Points (Over/Under), Winning Margin, Team Totals, First / Last Try Scorer, Anytime Try Scorer, First Team to Score, Half-time / Full-time, Race to X Points and that’s for both union and league. 

Add to the equation that their live offering is also very strong, as is their mobile app, that they livestream matches, and also offer rugby Bet Builders, and you can see how you can’t really go wrong with Bet365.

But above all, they’re the top site for the variety of rugby markets offered.  

Betfred 

If you’ve gone to all the effort of being the title sponsor of the Rugby Super League, the UK’s leading rugby league tournament, then it’s hardly surprising that Betfred is also the best Rugby League betting site when it comes to the product side of things.   

Here are some of the most popular markets they offer on it: 

•  Match Winner: Pick which team wins within 80 minutes.
•  Handicap Betting: One team is given a points start to make it a 50/50 game. 
• Total Points (Over/Under): Bet on the combined score across both teams. 
• Try Scorer Markets: e.g., First Try Scorer, a popular prop.
•  Outrights & Futures: Season winner, top try scorer awards, etc. 

They also make a point of going ‘best price’- offering the highest odds across the whole industry - on key matches like the Super League Grand Final.

All of which makes them the standout site for Rugby League betting.

Sky Bet 

Rugby - both Union and League - is a sport absolutely perfect for 

live betting. Games between two well-matched teams can easily go down to the last few minutes, where a try out of nowhere or even a drop goal or penalty, can make all the difference. 

So if you’re keen to have a rugby betting site with plenty of in-play markets, where market suspensions are kept to a minimum and the odds are updated as quickly as possible so you can get your next bet on ahead of an important passage of play, then look no further than Sky Bet. 

They do all of the above and, for good measure, also offer some of the better live betting odds. 

All of which makes Sky Bet the top site for live rugby betting.

Betfair 

Betfair has two separate products: the Sportsbook and the Exchange. When it comes to rugby bookmakers UK, the Sportsbook isn’t necessarily any better or worse than its competitors.  

But the Exchange is a completely different story. Peer-to-peer betting ensures that in addition to being able to lay prices, the odds available to you as a backer will almost always be much better than what you’d find at a regular Sportsbook, especially when it comes to the match winner market. 

This is the case with both pre-match and live betting odds, and very often, you can get odds that are as much as 20% bigger than what you’d find elsewhere. 

As we all know, that difference in the odds makes all the difference over time and is the single most important factor when it comes to your betting record. 

It’s worth pointing out that this may not be necessarily be the case with other markets, like handicaps or total points markets, because sometimes those markets lack liquidity.

But Betfair are certainly the best in class when it comes to offering the biggest odds on the match winner market. 

Boylesports 

Everyone loves a good promo, giving you more bang for your buck.

And if that’s what’s a priority for you when it comes to rugby betting, then Boylesports might be the rugby betting site for you.  

In addition to regular price boosts and the occasional free bet to their more loyal customers, they have a special promo that’s available to everyone. 

If in rugby union, the team you backed goes 17 points ahead, you’ll be paid out as a winner even if that team goes on to draw, or lose the match. The same promo applies to rugby league, the only difference being that it’s 16 points in this case. 

Add all these promos together, and you can see why Boylesports is the leader for the best rugby promotions.

How Do I Choose the Right Rugby Betting Site?

So, how do you find the best rugby betting sites?  Well, for starters, there’s probably no such thing as a best rugby site full stop, but rather, it’s about finding the rugby site that best suits your particular needs. 

So here are some of the most important considerations for you, always remembering that we’ll only ever endorse UKGC-licensed rugby sites.

Union vs. League Coverage 

Yes, they’re both types of rugby, and they share certain similarities. But it’s worth remembering that they are actually two completely different sports, with different numbers of players on the field, different rules, scoring systems, and so on.

If you’re a fan of both, then it’s important that they’re both a strong rugby league betting site, as well as a good rugby union one.  

If you’re a big fan of one but not necessarily the other, then make sure the rugby betting site ticks all the boxes regarding the rugby code that matters to you. 

The Importance of Handicap Variety 

Some rugby matches are one-sided affairs, on paper at least, meaning that for the rugby punter, they’re not particularly interesting from a betting perspective. 

Not too many customers want to be backing a red-hot favourite at a short price of 1.05, while plenty don’t want to be backing the other team as big 8.0 outsiders, thinking that’s just a waste of money on a long shot that, as the rugby betting odds suggest, they’re pretty unlikely to win on. 

That’s where handicaps come into play, giving the outsider a head start of x points and asking the favourite to win by a certain number of points, rather than just winning in general. What this does is it makes any match a 50/50 affair. 

To take this a step further, it’s important that the top rugby betting sites offer not just the central line handicap, but other ones as well, with different handicap lines, at different odds.   

Live Betting and Streaming Features

Most of the top rugby bookmakers UK see as much action on their live rugby betting markets as they do on their pre-match ones, so it’s important that they offer a good variety of those in live betting, that market suspensions are kept to a minimum and that when they do need to be suspended, that the odds are updated and made available again as quickly as possible. 

Real-time stats displayed within in-play markets are a big bonus, as they help customers make informed decisions before their next move.  

Another big bonus is to actually be able to watch the match unfold rather than just guessing as to what’s going on, or following a live text blog. 

Not everyone has expensive sports TV channels broadcasting the action, so the availability of live rugby streaming at a rugby site (for free) also helps you when it comes to placing your next live betting wager.

Understanding Rugby Betting Markets and Bet Types

Some of the top online rugby betting sites offer as many as 150+ betting markets when it comes to the biggest games. Let’s look at some of the most popular ones.   

Match Result and Handicap Betting

The match result market doesn’t really need much introduction or explanation because it works exactly the same way as it would in football: you’re betting on whether Team A will win, whether Team B will win, or whether the match ends in a draw. 

That said, it’s worth explaining that whereas the draw is a very common occurrence in football, because of the difference in the scoring system between the two sports, it’s extremely rare in rugby: both union and league. 

We’ve touched on handicaps already, but the best way to explain them is to give you a real example. Let’s say South Africa are playing Scotland with the former 1.1 and the latter 9.0. Many punters will feel it’s not much fun, or a good betting opportunity for that matter, to be backing either at those extreme prices. 

So the rugby betting site will set a handicap of 5.5 points: either you want to back South Africa at 1.9 to overcome the handicap (win by six points). Or you want to back Scotland at 1.9 to stay within the handicap, which means: you’ll win if Scotland win or draw, but also if they lose… as long as it’s by 5 points or less.     

Winning Margin

As we know from the handicap markets, when it comes to betting, sometimes it’s not just about winning the match but also about how many points a match is won by. 

And that’s precisely what the winning margin is all about. Let’s go back to South Africa v Scotland. The Sportsbook might offer you these options: 

1. South Africa to win by 1-7 points. 
2. South Africa to win by 8-14 points.
3. South Africa to win by 15+ points. 

So, assuming SA win, it’s only ever going to be by a margin that falls into one of those three categories. Of course, if they don’t win, all of them would be losing bets! 

Try Scorer Markets

Any rugby match will only ever have one player scoring the first try of the game and one player scoring the last try of the game, though it’s worth noting that if the match only had one try in it (very unlikely but possible), then the first try scorer and the last try scorer would be the same player. 

Either way, you can choose from the listed players who you think will be the first and last players to cross the line in the game. 

The anytime try scorer market works differently. Let’s say you backed South Africa star wing Cheslin Kolbe to score a try at any time at odds of 2.5. It doesn’t matter if he scored the first, second, fourth or sixth try of the match, as long as he scored one at any stage of the game.  

Total Points (Over/Under)

This is one of the simplest markets to play. South Africa v Scotland again, and the bookies make the total line points line: 40.5. Either you think the game will have 40 points or less, or 41 points or more. 

It will always be one or the other because of the presence of 0.5 in the total points line. 

Then it’s a case of adding up the points scored by both teams. If it ended 20-15, that would be a total of 35 points and would be under 40.5. If it ended 30-15, then that would be a total of 45 points and would be over the 40.5 points line. 

Race to Points

Let’s say it’s England v Ireland this time, and the rugby betting site offers the following first team to/race points market: 

• England first team to 10 points.
• Ireland first team to 10 points.
• Neither team scores 10 points. 

After that, it’s pretty simple: either one of the two teams gets to the 10-point mark and is the winner, or neither does, in which case the third option is the winner.

Major Rugby Tournaments to Bet On

And now to some of the major competitions across the two codes. 

The Six Nations (Union)

England, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Italy contest this annual rugby union competition, played by Europe’s top six sides, a tournament in which each team plays every other team once. 

Six Nations betting is incredibly popular, and not just among European punters. 

Rugby World Cup (Union & League)

World Cups, unsurprisingly, take things to the next level because they’re not just about being the best team on your continent but rather, the best team in the world. 

There’s one for both Union and League, and both are contested every four years. 

Rugby World Cup betting is probably the most popular form of betting on rugby of any. 

Super League and NRL (League)

Both of these are rugby league, not union, tournaments. 

Super League pits the cream of European rugby league teams (Northern Hemisphere) against each other over a first stage played in a league format, followed by Playoffs and culminating in the Super League Grand Final. 

The NRL League, on the other hand, a southern Hemisphere tournament, is currently contested by 17 teams, 16 of which are from Australia, with the last one being from New Zealand.

How to Place Your First Rugby Bet (Step-by-Step)

We’ve been talking a lot about rugby markets, competitions and the best rugby betting sites, but crucially: how do you actually go about placing a bet on rugby?

Let’s find out.  

• Check out our table of the Top 10 rugby betting sites, read what we had to say about each one and choose one or two that you like the sound of. 
• Open an account, deposit some money with one of the accepted payment options and pass your Know Your Customer (KYC) test as soon as possible, as you won’t be able withdraw cash you’ve won until you do this. 
• Check the list of sports on the left-hand side of the homepage, and choose either Rugby Union or Rugby League. They’re different sports, so they will be listed as such.  
• Start by choosing the competition you want to bet on. For example, Six Nations. 
• If you want to bet on who will win it overall or be the top try scorer, go to Outrights betting.  
• If you want to bet on a specific match, for example, England v Italy, choose that one.
• Then go to the specific market you want to play (eg, match winner) and choose the selection within that market, e.g., England.
• Choose the stake you want to wager on your bet. 
• If you’re using a free bet or taking advantage of any other offer, you may need to tick a box to ensure you’re using the bonus rather than risking your own cash.
• Process the bet.

What Are the Best Rugby Betting Promotions?

Sadly, you’re not going to find nearly as many rugby offers as you would for the likes of football, but you’ll still find some. Here are a few of them. 

Early Payout Offers

We’ve mentioned this one already when talking about Boylesports, but a few other top rugby betting sites will offer it as well: as long as the team you backed goes ahead by X points, you’ll be paid out as a winner, whether they go on to win or not.  

Price Boosts on Try Scorers

These work the same way as a price boost on anything else, but in this case, they’re focused on tryscorers. An example would be Betfair boosting the price on Marcus Smith to be the first try scorer from 12.0 to 15.0, or on Antoine Dupont to be an anytime tryscorer, from 3.0 to 3.5. 

Acca Insurance

Let’s say it’s a big rugby weekend and you put six different teams to win in an acca. Thanks to Acca insurance, if just one of them lets you down, the bookie will refund your stake in the form of a free bet. 

Free Bet Clubs

Free Bet Clubs reward customer loyalty, though please note that not all rugby bookmakers UK will have them. 

The more rugby bets you place, the more they’ll give you back, in the form of free bets, cashback or other bonuses.  

A Word on Betting Responsibly on Rugby Betting Sites

If there’s one thing all the top rugby betting sites have in common, it’s a strong commitment to responsible gambling. Simply put, betting should always be enjoyable and it’s in everyone’s best interests that it stays that way.

To support this, reputable bookmakers don’t just talk about responsible gambling, they actively provide tools and guidance to help players stay in control. You’ll usually find clear, easy-to-understand information explaining why responsible betting matters, alongside practical features you can use whenever you need them.

Common responsible gambling tools include deposit limits, which let you cap how much you can add to your account each week or month. For example, you may limit your monthly deposits to just £20.

There are also time-out options, allowing you to take a short break from betting if you feel you need one. For example, if you think you’ve spent too much time gambling over the last week. 

For those who feel they need stronger support, self-exclusion is available: either for a fixed period (such as six months) or permanently if you decide you’re done with gambling for good. 

In addition, responsible gambling sections often include links to trusted charities and support organisations such as Gamblers Anonymous, GamCare or BeGambleAware. 

These resources are there to offer confidential advice and help to anyone who feels gambling is becoming a problem.

Our Final Verdict: Why Rugby Betting Sites Are a Top Choice

Rugby- both union and league - is a great sport to bet on, there are endless top tournaments to get involved in, there are matches to look forward all year round and also plenty of promos to take advantage of, in order for your money to go further.  

We’ve provided you with a list of the top 10 best rugby betting sites out there, told you about their welcome offers and also which sites are best for what, such as which is top for live betting. 

Now it’s just a case of choosing one or more, remembering that we only recommend  UKGC-licensed sites, as these are the only ones we can be sure are safe and secure to play at.

Frequently Asked Questions about Rugby Betting