The first round of the Rugby Championship kicks off on Saturday morning as Australia host South Africa in Brisbane followed by New Zealand v Argentina in Wellington. We take a look at these two matches from a betting angle.
Australia v South Africa – Click here to bet
Australia are coming off the back of a two-match series win against Wales at home. They won the first match 25-16 and the second match 36-28 which was a good start for new head coach Joe Schmidt. Schmidt has named a relatively young side with plenty of players coming through the Super Rugby campaign.
South Africa hosted Ireland in a two-match series where they won the first match 27-20 and lost the second match 24-25 to a last-minute drop goal. They then named a very young side to take on Portugal in Bloemfontein where they won the match 64-21. Coach Erasmus has named a relatively experienced side with the inclusion of two younger players in Mngomezulu at flyhalf and Elrigh Louw at eighth man.
Head-to-Head
The two sides met last year in July at Loftus Versfeld where South Africa won the match 43-12. It must be taking into consideration that in the last 5 encounters between the two sides in Australia, Australia have won 4 out of the 5.
South Africa are heavy favourites to win the match and are trading at 1.28 while Australia, the home team, are trading at 4.50.
A number of people have South Africa as heavy favourites because of their recent win at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, however, it is not easy to travel to Brisbane and come away with a win and I am betting Australia push them close.
Handicap: South Africa [-8.5]
BET: Handicap, Australia [+8.5] at 2.10.
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New Zealand v Argentina – Click here to bet
New Zealand hosted England in a two-match incoming series where they won the first match 16-15 and the second 24-17. They then played Fiji in the United States where they won that match 47-5. Coach Scott Robertson has named a strong side for the fixture. Rieko Ioane has moved to the bench as Anton Lienert-Brown moves into outside centre.
Argentina hosted France in a two-match series in July that ended in a 1-1 draw. France sent out a very young squad, missing a number of star players and still managed to pull off a win in the first match. The second match ended 33-25 in favour of Argentina. They then played Uruguay the following week where they comfortably won the match 5-79.
Head-to-Head
The two sides last met in the 2023 Rugby World Cup semi-finals where New Zealand won the match 44-6. New Zealand have also won the two fixtures before that, both home and away. Argentina last beat New Zealand in 2022 which was the first time they had ever beaten them in New Zealand.
New Zealand are favourites to win the match, trading at 1.11 while Argentina are trading at 9.00.
New Zealand remain a powerhouse on the international rugby scene and I can see continued improvement under their new coach. They should be too strong for Argentina this weekend.
Handicap: New Zealand [-15.5]
BET: Handicap, New Zealand [-15.5] at 1.80.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
