Betting preview: Rugby Championship, Round Six

Editor

Ahead of the final round of the Rugby Championship, we take a look at the best bets from the two games; South Africa v New Zealand and Argentina v Australia.

South Africa v New Zealand

The All Blacks may have already secured the Rugby Championship but revenge will no doubt be on their minds after they were stunned by South Africa in the reverse fixture.

Rassie Erasmus’ men secured their first victory on New Zealand soil since 2009 when they overcame the defending world champions 36-34 in Wellington. The Springboks then sealed second place in the competition two weeks later following a 23-12 triumph over Australia and they will look to make it three in a row this weekend.

Despite their previous meeting and the hosts’ improved form generally, the bookmakers still foresee Steve Hansen’s charges emerging with a comfortable triumph with them down at 3/14 at 188Bet and 888sport to claim their fifth win of the 2018 tournament.

South Africa’s odds have certainly shortened following their win at Westpac Stadium and there are a few factors going in their favour here. For one, the corresponding fixture last year saw the home team get remarkably close to their opponents, going down by just a single point, while the visitors have a few injuries to contend with.

The Springboks have improved since Allister Coetzee’s departure and, with BetVictor and BetStars putting them at 4/1 to defeat the All Blacks, it seems a reasonable punt.

They also have an in-form winger in the shape of Aphiwe Dyantyi, who is 9/1 with various companies to touch down first, but Rieko Ioane and Waisake Naholo are unsurprisingly favourites at 8/1 with Ladbrokes and Coral.

Argentina v Australia

A game which will decide which team takes home the wooden spoon as Argentina hosts Australia in Salta on Saturday. It has already been a record-breaking campaign for Mario Ledesma’s, with them claiming two victories in the Rugby Championship for the first time ever, but they will be expecting to secure a third.

Meanwhile, it has been a disastrous tournament for the Wallabies, who have lost four of their five matches so far, including a particularly disappointing 23-19 home defeat to Los Pumas on the Gold Coast.

Michael Cheika is under significant pressure to produce results with the World Cup just under a year away, so he needs a victory from this encounter. The Wallabies are, however, facing a team with confidence, despite Ledesma’s performance last weekend where they succumbed to the world champions.

Argentina are therefore slight favourites for the first time in the 2018 competition with Bet365, Ladbrokes and Paddy Power listing them at 5/6. The bookmakers do not seem confident in the hosts’ ability, however, and Marathonbet have put Australia down at 6/5 to seal their second triumph.

They think it will be tight and both teams are 11/2 with Ladbrokes to win the match by 1-5 points, but the Wallabies do have a good record against Los Pumas with Cheika’s men usually quite comfortable.

On their last two visits to Argentina, they have beaten the home side 37-20 and 34-9. Although a similar scoreline might be a stretch in Salta on Saturday, you can get 7/1 at BetStars for the visitors to win by over 15 points.