Rugby union may be front and center on everyone’s televisions right now, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t plenty of other great action happening in the sport’s slightly more Australian cousin. Rugby league fans who are craving some matches following the end of the NRL will be delighted to see that the Pacific Rugby League Championship is back this year. Formerly the Oceania Cup, trans-Tasman rivalries are on the line. Read on for all the best Pacific Rugby League Championship 2023 betting predictions.
Australia are still the heavyweights in the Pacific region despite proving themselves a little fallible in recent years. Can New Zealand take them down in the Pacific Cup, or will the Kangaroos yet again beat up their little brothers?
What about Fiji and Papua New Guinea, who are well-matched in the Pacific Bowl this year? We break down all the latest 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship odds to answer these questions ahead of the second weekend’s action.
| Tournament: | 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship |
| 🧾 Format: | Two groups of three teams; top two progress to the final match |
| 🏟️ Venue: | Stadiums across New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea |
| 🗓️ Dates: | Saturday 14 October to Sunday 5 November |
You may be familiar with the latest rugby union betting odds thanks to the Rugby World Cup going on right now, but before we get into our 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship betting tips, let’s look at the odds on legit sports betting sites ahead of this tournament. Here are the odds to win this year’s Pacific Cup:
Looking at these 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship odds, it’s clear that Australia are the heavy favorites to win. After winning their opening match against Samoa last weekend, all they need to do is defeat New Zealand, and they’ll be in the final – likely against New Zealand again. Paying 1.30 (3/10), they’re well ahead of the Kiwis, who sit on 3.60 (13/5), and miles ahead of Samoa, who are already looking like long shots at 26.00 (25/1) after their opening loss.
In 2019, the Oceania Cup debuted to foster more regular international rugby league matches in the Pacific. We all know what happened in 2020, so this is the first time the tournament has been played since then and only the second time overall.
Six teams are competing, split into two separate mini-tournaments – the Pacific Cup and the Pacific Bowl. Teams play a round-robin before the top two sides compete in a final to determine the winner. In 2019, Australia came out on top of the brief Oceania Cup, while Fiji claimed the top spot in the Oceania Shield.
Here’s how the groups have been organized for this tournament and how we say each will unfold:
| 2023 Pacific Cup Teams | Predicted Group Finish |
|---|---|
| New Zealand | Runners up |
| Australia | Winners |
| Samoa | Third |
Australia, New Zealand, and Samoa – the top three rugby league teams in the world, all jam-packed into the Pacific Cup together, playing brilliant matches each week. We say the placement in the Pacific Cup will be fairly predictable after round-robin play, with Australia coming out on top unbeaten, followed by New Zealand, who will get the win over Samoa.
| 2023 Pacific Bowl Teams | Predicted Group Finish |
|---|---|
| Cook Islands | Third |
| Papua New Guinea | Winners |
| Fiji | Runners up |
Fiji won the second-tier competition in 2019, but we say the host nation, Papua New Guinea, will get up for their group clash this time and top the pool. The Cook Islands will be valiant, but ultimately, we don’t expect them to get a win this year, putting Fiji in second place overall. Read on for the best 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship betting tips on the internet.
You’ll likely have some suspicions about where our picks are headed based on how we’ve predicted the group stage to unfold. But don’t count your chickens before they hatch – we’ve analyzed the 2023 Pacific Rugby League Championship odds and come up with some spicy Rugby League Pacific Championship 2023 predictions. Here are our top three betting tips:
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That’s right, the Kiwis are going to pull off another brilliant upset over their rivals across the ditch and approve their high rugby league odds. Our top 2023 RL Pacific Championship betting tips have New Zealand losing to Australia in group play but coming out on top in the final of the Pacific Rugby League Championship.
New Zealand enter this tournament off the back of the Warriors’ best season in well over a decade. Sure, they’re different teams, but the core of both sides is the same. Combine this with the fact that New Zealand feel overdue for an upset against Australia, and it’s the perfect storm for another boil-over.
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We believe it will well and truly be a slow boil for New Zealand in the Pacific Rugby League Championship. The bookies are picking them to thrash Samoa, but we say betting on this one to be closer than expected is a great wager. Samoa have some quality individual players and benefit from playing last weekend, albeit in a loss to Australia. Against a Kiwi side that could be a tad disjointed and rusty, expect this to be a gritty victory for New Zealand, but not the blowout some are predicting.
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Speaking of blowouts, our best Rugby League Pacific Bowl 2023 tips say to back Fiji for a big victory this weekend against the Cook Islands. Great chance to improve your bet mastership. Simply put, this is a mismatch – Fiji are right in the running to win this year, while the Cook Islands are 81.00 (80/1) underdogs in the outright betting odds. It’s not hard to imagine Fiji – winners of this tournament in 2019 – putting a big score this weekend and easily exceeding the -22.5 handicap they’ve been given at the bookies.
Those who have had enough of the 2023 Rugby World Cup going on over in France are in luck because there’s some excellent rugby league action going down in the Pacific. The best in the world are competing in the Pacific Cup, and we say New Zealand will pull off a classic upset and defeat big brothers Australia in the final, while Fiji are a great chance of running in a big score against the Cook Islands this weekend.
