It’s been a somewhat difficult year for Wales in rugby. The always-competitive side was declared on this very site to be a dark horse for World Cup glory in Japan, and it wasn’t an outlandish idea. Aside from the typical heavyweight contenders, Wales looked to be fielding one of the strongest teams in the competition. In the end though, the Welsh team wound up getting trounced by New Zealand in the bronze medal match, while neighboring England reached the final (where they lost to South Africa).
Now, however, adding insult to injury, a betting scandal has fallen upon the Welsh national team. Former assistant coach Rob Howley, who also played for Wales to the tune of 59 appearances around the turn of the century, has been suspended from the sport for allegedly placing active bets on matches his own team was competing in.
To some American fans of the sport this may come across as a particularly relevant scandal given that betting here is newly relevant. We really don’t see many issues like this in the U.S. (former NBA referee Tim Donaghy and one-time MLB star Pete Rose are the only examples that readily come to mind), perhaps in part because sports betting has until recently been something of a fringe activity in the U.S.
However, with online bookies now accessible for many in the United States, many Americans are just beginning to understand and participate in sports betting. Furthermore, with rugby among the sports that U.S. bookies are offering odds and posting previews for, it’s likely a lot of fans just recently got their first taste of what it’s like to bet on the sport. And rest assured there were odds listings and active bets surrounding the World Cup we just saw in Japan.
Well, as it turns out, Rob Howley was probably in on the action too. And if you’ve dipped your toe into rugby betting yourself, or even if you’ve simply browsed some online bookies, you can quickly realize just how problematic this is. Betting odds are meant to offer the most accurate, neutral assessment of how likely it is for each team to win, such that bettors can decide for themselves what they want to risk or how much they want to try to win with their predictions.
For someone on the inside of the sport to take advantage of those odds doesn’t just mean he has a closer perspective or better understanding though. In theory, with his close connection to the matches, such a person could actually hold sway over events and outcomes, and thus be able to weigh those outcomes toward a positive result for his bets.
Fortunately we know that Howley didn’t do this, at least at the World Cup, because he was sent home from Japan during the training camp period. Nevertheless, his actions now represent a significant stain on the Welsh national program, and raise questions over what he may have done in the past to influence matches to his own benefit. According to reports about the ban Howley now faces (which is formally 18 months, but which could see nine of those months suspended), the assistant coach placed at least 363 bets – some, but not all, on the Welsh team. A few of the bets even involved actions by individual players in matches, which he could conceivably have had more direct influence on, as opposed to general outcomes.
Now, one hopes Howley was merely taking advantage of the close perspective he has on professional rugby, rather than hoping to directly influence events in his own favor. This idea may even be supported by the fact that he’s believed to have lost some £4,000 (about $5,300) throughout his betting activity. Even so though, this is a very serious offense for anyone who values fair play in professional sports. Meaning no ill will toward the former coach personally, it’s frankly surprising the suspension isn’t harsher than it is.
“Main photo credit”
