Coverage · 10 October 2026 · updated 14 October 2026

Rugby Union Odds API: Test Matches, Draws and Lines

The union league key, its markets and periods, and the draw and scoring traps to handle before you model a price.

A rugby union odds API gives you bookmaker prices for union matches as JSON: head to head, the three-way result, the line, total points, tries and try scorer markets, each with the time the price was seen. In SockOdds API v1, Test rugby is the league ru_internationals, in the sport rugby_union. Three things trip up most rugby models: how draws are settled, how the scoring system shapes lines, and settlement rules that change from market to market.

This guide covers what the data looks like, where the demand comes from, and how to handle each of those problems with worked numbers.

Rugby union in the v1 catalogue

ru_internationals is in the catalogue with 11 market types and three periods: full, half_1 and half_2. As of 12 October 2026, no bookmaker delivers rugby union prices yet. The league and its markets are defined, and prices appear when bookmakers deliver them. The leagues page lists the leagues in that state and which bookmakers deliver every other league.

These are the market types the catalogue lists for rugby union, with the periods that apply to this league:

You can read the same list from the API. This program asks for the markets offered in the league and prints each key, its subject and its sides:

const response = await fetch("https://api.sockodds.com/v1/markets?league=ru_internationals&limit=50", {
  headers: { Authorization: `Bearer ${process.env.SOCKODDS_API_KEY}` },
});
const body = await response.json();
for (const market of body.data) {
  const sides = Array.isArray(market.sides) ? market.sides.join(", ") : market.sides;
  console.log(`${market.key} (${market.subject}): ${sides}`);
}

import json, os, urllib.request

request = urllib.request.Request(
    "https://api.sockodds.com/v1/markets?league=ru_internationals&limit=50",
    headers={"Authorization": "Bearer " + os.environ["SOCKODDS_API_KEY"]},
)
with urllib.request.urlopen(request) as response:
    body = json.load(response)
for market in body["data"]:
    sides = ", ".join(market["sides"]) if isinstance(market["sides"], list) else market["sides"]
    print(f"{market['key']} ({market['subject']}): {sides}")

winner (event): home, away
result (event): home, draw, away
handicap (event): home, away
total_points (event): over, under
total_tries (event): over, under
team_points_over_under (team): over, under
team_tries_over_under (team): over, under
player_tries_anytime (player): yes
player_tries_first (player): participants
player_tries_last (player): participants
player_tries_over_under (player): over, under

When bookmakers deliver union, the same keys work on the price routes: GET /v1/odds?league=ru_internationals&markets=winner,result returns each upcoming Test with both winner markets side by side. Every outcome carries decimal_odds exactly as the bookmaker showed it, implied_probability with the margin still in it, and observed_at, the time we saw the price. A price we have not seen again within ten minutes is withheld from current responses, so a missing price means no fresh quote, never zero. Prices are pre-match first: SockOdds is not a low-latency in-play feed.

Rugby union is not on the free Developer plan, which covers MLB, NFL, AFL, NRL and the two Rugby League World Cups. Rookie and Pro include every supported league; see pricing.

The Test calendar that drives demand

For Australian developers, the Wallabies set the rhythm. When Rugby Australia published the 2026 Test schedule in November 2025, it listed 14 Tests for the year. The back end of that schedule, as published, shows how demand bunches into a few weeks:

Treat that as the schedule as it was announced, not a live fixture list: check the governing bodies' own fixture pages for current dates.

The November Tests sit inside the new Nations Championship: twelve teams divided into two pools of six, with all 2026 finals at Twickenham from 27 to 29 November. Its table gives 4 points for a win and 2 for a draw, plus a bonus point for scoring 4 or more tries and one for losing by fewer than 8 points, so draws and margins matter to standings as well as to match markets.

The big one is next year. The 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup is due to take place in Australia from 1 October to 13 November 2027, with 24 teams in six pools of four and a newly included round of 16. Knockout matches need a winner, which brings extra time into settlement (more on that below).

Draws: two-way, three-way and draw no bet

This is the problem behind most bad comparisons. The same match can be priced under three conventions, and the draw is handled differently in each:

1. Three-way result (result): home, draw and away are separate outcomes. If the match is drawn, only the draw wins.
2. Two-way head to head (winner): no draw option. Bookmakers commonly settle a drawn match under dead heat rules. TAB's NSW betting rules (rule 6.1.8) set out the method: divide the payout by the number of competitors in the tie, then multiply by the number of placings they fill. For a drawn two-way match that is half the stake at full odds, so a $10 bet at 2.75 returns $13.75.
3. Draw no bet: if the match is drawn, the stake is refunded. Some bookmakers offer it; it is not one of the union market types in the v1 catalogue.

winner and result are different market types, so they have different market ids even on the same game. Keep them that way: never put them in the same column.

SockOdds results use the same dead heat idea. A dead_heat verdict carries a dead_heat_factor, the share of the stake paid at the quoted price. The results docs name the ties that settle that way (a drawn AFL or AFLW head to head, a drawn AFLW quarter or half winner, and a Rugby League World Cup head to head still level after golden point). Rugby union is not on that list, and a tie with no published rule stays pending rather than guessed.

Converting between conventions

Say you have fair probabilities from a three-way market: home win p(H), draw p(D), away win p(A). Each convention implies a different fair price for the same team:

The dead heat line comes from the payout: a draw returns half the stake at full odds, so it counts as half a win.

A worked example

These prices are invented for illustration. Book X offers two-way head to head: Wallabies 2.75, New Zealand 1.45. Book Y offers the three-way result: Wallabies 2.90, draw 26.0, New Zealand 1.48.

1. Book X margin. Implied probabilities are 1/2.75 = 0.3636 and 1/1.45 = 0.6897, summing to 1.0533, a 5.3% overround. Removing it proportionally gives the Wallabies 0.3452.
2. Book Y margin. Implied probabilities are 0.3448, 0.0385 and 0.6757, summing to 1.0590. Proportional devig gives Wallabies 0.3256, draw 0.0363, New Zealand 0.6381.
3. Convert Book Y to two-way. Wallabies 0.3256 + 0.0363 / 2 = 0.3438, a fair two-way price of 2.91.
4. Compare like with like. Book X's fair Wallabies probability is 0.3452 (fair price 2.90). The two books now agree to within about 0.15 percentage points.

Skip step 3 and you would compare Book X's 0.3452 with Book Y's 0.3256, see a two point gap, and flag a mispricing that isn't there. The same probabilities give a Wallabies fair price of 3.07 on the three-way result, 2.96 draw no bet and 2.91 dead heat, so mixing conventions in one average drags it around.

SockOdds returns each price exactly as the bookmaker showed it, margin included, so the devig step is yours. Our posts on devig methods and consensus odds cover it in more depth. Proportional devig is used here for clarity; on a three-way market with a long-priced draw, other methods move probability away from the draw differently, so test which one fits your data.

Scoring: why lines look the way they do

Under World Rugby Law 8, a try is worth five points, a conversion two, a penalty goal or dropped goal three, and a penalty try seven. A single scoring play moves the margin by 3, 5 or 7 points (or 2 for a conversion after a try).

That has practical effects on the data:

• Half point lines such as 6.5 can't push. Whole number lines can, so record how each bookmaker settles a push on any line without a half point.
• Lines that straddle 3, 5 or 7 sit either side of one scoring play. Moving a handicap from 6.5 to 7.5 crosses the value of a converted try, so expect bigger price jumps between those lines than between, say, 9.5 and 10.5.
• The handicap is where margin pricing shows up. The union catalogue has no winning margin market. A home handicap at -6.5 is a bet that the home side wins by 7 or more; in v1 each side carries its own line, so the away outcome on the same market shows 6.5.
• Tries and points move together. Five points a try means total_tries and total_points lines are linked, and a model that prices one should sanity check the other.

Settlement details to store with every price

A rugby price without its settlement rules is half a data point. Keep these next to each market:

• Draw handling: winner or result, and how the bookmaker settles a draw on a two-way market.
• Extra time: pool matches and Tests can end level, but knockout matches need a winner. The TAB New Zealand rules notice, for example, says rugby union markets settle on the score at the end of regular time unless otherwise stated, while head to head and match result options without a draw selection "include any extra time". In v1, full includes extra time where the sport's rules do, and the union catalogue has no separate regulation period, so check each bookmaker's rule before comparing prices on a World Cup knockout.
• Half markets: whether a drawn half is its own outcome (result on half_1) or a two-way market.
• Try scorer markets: what happens if a player doesn't take the field, and how a penalty try is treated. Read each bookmaker's rules. In v1 results, a player whose participation the official source does not confirm stays pending.
• Timestamp: observed_at on every outcome, so you decide how fresh is fresh enough.
• Event status: an event is scheduled, live, final, postponed or cancelled. Our guide to postponed, delayed and cancelled events covers what each means.

A checklist for building on rugby union odds

1. Store winner, result and any draw no bet price as separate markets.
2. Convert to one convention before devig, averaging or comparison.
3. Compare handicaps by market id, which already pins the period and line.
4. Record push and extra time rules per market and bookmaker.
5. Use observed_at on each price and drop anything older than you accept.
6. Watch for one-sided markets: a bookmaker that prices only two of three outcomes should be left out of a three-way average.
7. Build the pipeline against the catalogue now, so it is ready when bookmakers deliver union prices.

Questions people ask

What is a rugby union odds API?

A web API that returns bookmaker prices for rugby union matches as structured data: head to head, three-way result, line, total points, tries and try scorer markets, with the time each price was seen. Developers use it for comparison sites, models and alerts.

How are draws settled in rugby union head to head betting?

It depends on the market. In a three-way result the draw is its own outcome. In a two-way head to head, bookmakers commonly apply dead heat rules, so half the stake is paid at full odds. In draw no bet the stake is refunded. Always read each bookmaker's rules.

Can I average two-way and three-way rugby prices together?

Not directly. Convert both to the same convention first. A fair two-way dead heat probability for a team is its three-way win probability plus half the draw probability.

Does SockOdds have rugby union prices now?

The league ru_internationals and its markets are in the v1 catalogue. As of 12 October 2026, no bookmaker delivers union prices yet; prices appear when bookmakers deliver them. SockOdds is pre-match first, not a low-latency in-play feed.

Is rugby union on the free SockOdds plan?

No. The free Developer plan covers MLB, NFL, AFL, NRL and the two Rugby League World Cups. Rookie and Pro include every supported league. See pricing.

Sources

• World Rugby: Law 8, Scoring
• Rugby Australia: Wallabies confirm Test schedule for 2026 season
• Wikipedia: 2026 Nations Championship
• Wikipedia: 2027 Men's Rugby World Cup
• New Zealand Gazette: TAB NZ Betting Rules Amendment Notice (No.3) 2024
• TAB: TAB Sportsbet (NSW) betting rules

Next

• Every market type
• Results and dead heats
• Rugby League World Cup odds
• Leagues and coverage

SockOdds provides data only. It does not offer tips or predictions on any game.