While most of us were left utterly deflated by the agonising defeat to New Zealand on Sunday, some of those who plumped for the All Blacks late on were laughing all the way to the bank.
With 80 minutes up on the clock, the home side held a 22-17 point lead, but some brave/prophetic punters stumped money on the world champions just before the close of action and bore the fruits of the generous odds.
According to today’s Irish Examiner, Paddy Power revealed that there were “hundreds” of punters who lumped money on the All Blacks in the dying minutes, even with the Irish down near the Kiwi line, with the tourists out as far as 4/1 at the time.
The bookies stopped taking bets with 90 seconds still left on the clock, but said that most of the betting on a New Zealand win came from Ireland.
“There were a lot of people who didn’t have the faith, I’m afraid,” the spokesman said, confirming that the majority of punters believing in the All Blacks even as the seconds ticked down, were based in Ireland.
The majority of the bets came between the 50th and 60th minutes, with a late flurry towards the end of the pulsating contest.
