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Scotland vs Romania betting tips:
- Scotland -57.5 points – 10/13 with Unibet
- Second half to be the highest scoring half – 4/6 with William Hill
- Kyle Steyn to score a try – 1/5 with BoyleSports
Gregor Townsend’s Scotland have an enormous points differential (PD) deficit to make up on both Ireland and South Africa if they are to sneak into the quarter-finals – which will require them to beat the Irish next weekend at a minimum.
With South Africa likely to increase their PD further when they take on Tonga the following day, Scotland are left with no choice but to rack up a score their cricketers would be proud of when taking on Romania.
But will it be easier said than done? The Romanians caught Ireland sleeping in their opening match by scoring the opening try from a misdirected chip kick that was not ready for an intercept and counterattack.
We’ve picked out three Scotland vs. Romania predictions using the latest Rugby World Cup odds, which are outlined below.
Another drubbing coming for the Oaks
The pre-match handicap is asking Scotland to put up a score they haven’t managed since beating Tonga 60-14 in late 2021 and that’s if the Romanians don’t reply even once.
But the Scots haven’t met an opposition of Romania’s pedigree since the previous World Cup, when they comfortably covered a 35-point spread against Russia (61-0).
This time a lot more will be expected of them, but we can see a similar scoreline in which Scotland can cover -57.5 but without quite scaling the heights that Ireland (82-8) and South Africa (76-0) did, even knowing that they’ll need to score as big as possible.
The six-day backup and absence of captain Jamie Ritchie isn’t in their favour, but they should be able to sustain the running game after half time against an opposition that haemorrhaged a total of nine tries beyond the 60th minute in their two games combined.
Winger Darcy Graham spoke during the week of how the side were “disappointed to leave four or five tries out there by my reckoning against Tonga” and the players could therefore focus during the week on adding some extra phases to their attacking drives.
Tip: Scotland -57.5 points - 10/13 with Unibet
Romania won’t be immediate walkovers
More than 60 per cent of Romania’s awful points differential of -150 at this event was sustained after the half-time break as South Africa and Ireland subbed on some fresh pairs of talented legs.
The run stats across those two particular matches are telling: Ireland recorded 63 runs (475 metres) before the break compared with 105 (623m) after, whilst the Springboks made up nearly more than 100 metres in the second half when compared with the first.
The majority of other mismatches at this event, from England vs. Chile to Italy vs. Namibia and even Wales’ big win over the Wallabies, have unfolded in a similar manner.
That doesn’t even include Scotland’s record across all matches this year in which exactly two-thirds of their tries were scored after half time.
UK betting sites make the second half odds-on to be the highest scoring and that’s our second prediction for Scotland vs. Romania.
Tip: Second half to be the highest scoring half - 4/6 with William Hill
The Steyn train rolls on at full speed
The friendly competition between Scotland’s wingers continues to heat up throughout the tournament as Duhan van der Merwe (21 tries for Scotland) and Darcy Graham (20) chase down Stuart Hogg’s all-time national record of 27 tries.
Scotland’s squad has only five players capable of filling the wing and fullback roles which has ensured a healthy rotation throughout the tournament so far.
Kyle Steyn – who started all five Six Nations games in place of the injured Graham earlier this year and found the line twice against Wales – scythed through Tonga’s defence with a simple dummy to record a fifth try-scoring appearance from his last six games for club or country.
It was a reminder for team management what they missed out on when omitting him from the matchday 23 against South Africa.
Described as “a dark horse” by teammate Graham, Steyn now has 10 international tries from 14 appearances and should get some good game time here with the coach having one eye on Ireland next weekend.
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Last Updated: 14th March 2024, 07:22 AM
