Betting preview: Rugby Championship, Round Three
Ahead of the third round of the Rugby Championship, we take a look at the best bets from the two games; New Zealand v Argentina and Australia v South Africa.
New Zealand v Argentina
New Zealand will look to make it three successive victories in the 2018 Rugby Championship when they face Argentina in Nelson and it is almost impossible to look past them.
They secured yet another Bledisloe Cup following two dominant victories against Australia and they are arguably facing the weakest side in the competition on Saturday.
Although Los Pumas defeated South Africa in Round Two, overcoming the Springboks 32-19 in Mendoza, they have only finished above last place once since their inception into the tournament.
Certainly, new head coach Mario Ledesma appears to have given them a lift and they have at times caused the All Blacks problems, particularly in the first half of games, but rarely has that extended to the full 80.
Steve Hansen’s men have often been easy winners over Argentina in the Rugby Championship and the bookmakers are backing them to do so again with various companies offering 1/50.
As for the Argentinians, they are 25/1 with Betfair and Paddy Power to claim a shock victory, but they have rarely got close to Hansen’s charges. Instead, it might be worth backing a quick start from the visitors, who were excellent early on in both games against the Springboks, and Bautista Delguy is a tempting 25/1 to go over first.
New Zealand, as they tend to do, should ultimately move away in the second period but, for Los Pumas to be leading at the break and the hosts to secure a win, it is 10/1 (Betfred).
Finally, although the victories have been comfortable for the All Blacks, Argentina have been a nuisance at times and on the +19 handicap, BetVictor has listed it down at 9/4.
Australia v South Africa
Two sides who endured a disappointing result last time out will go head-to-head on Saturday looking to improve their position in the southern hemisphere competition.
It is particularly important for Australia, who succumbed twice to New Zealand and both times failed to get within 25 points of their opponents. As a result, head coach Michael Cheika is under significant pressure to produce results over the next four rounds, starting against South Africa.
Rugby Australia chief executive Raelene Castle has publicly backed Cheika, stating that his job is safe, but no doubt she would like that decision to be backed up by performances on the field.
With the Wallabies desperate for a win, the bookmakers see them as slight favourites at 4/6 (Betfair, Paddy Power and BoyleSports). They are predicting a tight game but the Springboks are a difficult team to decipher following their continued inconsistency.
While their series victory over England was impressive, they were poor in the third Test and were outplayed by Argentina in Round Two of the Rugby Championship. Discounting their American sojourn, which saw their second team go down to Wales’ reserves, their match in Mendoza was the team’s only contest away from home under Erasmus, so they are still an unknown quantity.
David Pocock’s injury has boosted the visitors’ chances, according to the bookmakers, with their odds shortening to 7/5 at Bet365, Ladbrokes and Coral.
Ultimately, you would think that Australia would be fired up for this contest after the disappointment of the Bledisloe Cup and Israel Folau is among the favourites to touch down first – 10/1 with Bet365 and Unibet – but it is a tough match to call.