Aussies favourites for inaugural nines tournament

Sporting index make hosts Australia 4/5 favourites to win the inaugural World Cup nines tournament , which kicks off tomorrow .

The tournament is being held at the Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta , home of the Eels .
The spread betting firm have recently started offering a fixed odds service and have a range of odds available for the star studded event .
The Aussies must have an advantage as up until a couple of years ago had the experience of playing in the Auckland nines , a pre season tournament for all NRL clubs . They have picked a strong squad containing real speedsters such as Josh Addo Carr from Melbourne.

New Zealand are next in the betting , with their squad also having experience in the Auckland nines , at around 7/2 . The Kiwis can call on the likes of Shaun Johnson and do look a real threat.

England come next at 11/2 but the 3 lions were rocked when Sam Burgess had to pull out with injury . They again have picked a strong squad , led by James Graham , but they look a step behind the leading 2 in the betting for me .

Interesting outsiders are Fiji at 14/1 , maybe not having a strong enough squad for the 13 a side game , they have a pacy looking squad with a sprinkling of NRL talent and this format should suit them . They do well as a nation at the shorter form of rugby union and will be expecting to go well here .

Tonga are led by Jason Toumalolo and Andrew and are another side who look overpriced at 14/1 .

The 1st round of pool games kick off at 8.20 tomorrow morning , with France playing Lebanon , the big game between Australia and New Zealand kicks off at 11:00 with the Green n Gold 4/11 favourites.
Another potentially entertaining clash kicks off at 10:10 with Samoa marginal favourites against dark horses Fiji .

Sporting index have also priced a range of spread betting markets including total tournament points and tries , as well as spread markets on the 1st round pool games .

They estimate around 125 tries across the 21 games . You can buy or sell depending on whether you think there will be more or less than their quote , be careful though as losses can exceed deposits .

Live coverage of the whole event is on Sky Sports ,click here to look at the sporting index odds on the nines , as always please gamble responsibly