Wales take on Argentina at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday and if the betting odds are a good guide then it should be a really close game.
WALES
Wales were hammered 55-23 by the All Blacks last week having started the game 13 point underdogs. There was a period in the second-half when the teams were trading tries and it looked like Wales might at least back the handicap, but the all Black machine got going late in the second-half and ran away comfortable victors.
Previous action for Wales was in South Africa where they lost a 3 match Test series 2-1 having led the series in the second match before getting outplayed in the decider.
TEAM
15 Louis Rees-Zammit, 14 Alex Cuthbert, 13 George North, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Gareth Anscombe, 9 Tomos Williams, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Justin Tipuric (captain), 6 Dan Lydiate, 5 Adam Bear, 4 Will Rowlands, 3 Dillon Lewis , 2 Ken Owens, 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Ryan Elias, 17 Rhodri Jones , 18 Sam Wainwright, 19 Ben Carter, 20 Jac Morgan , 21 Kieran Hardy, 22 Rhys Priestland, 23 Owen Watkin
ARGENTINA
Argentina caused a big upset last weekend against England where they started as 14 point underdogs, but won the game 30-29. The English had the better of many parts of the game, but Argentina’s defence was excellent and when they got the opportunities to score they took them better than the English.
One of the problems this side has had over the years is putting back-to-back performances together and that was what coach Michael Cheika will be focused on this week. Argentina had won 2 of 6 Rugby Championship matches earlier in the year with the highlight been a victory in New Zealand and in mid-year they won in a competitive 3 match series against Scotland 2-1.
TEAM
15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Mateo Carreras, 13 Matias Moroni, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente, 11 Emiliano Boffelli, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Pablo Matera, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Tomas Lavanini, 4 Matias Alemanno, 3 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Nahuel Tetaz Chaparro, 18 Eduardo Bello, 19 Lucas Paulos, 20 Facundo Isa, 21 Eliseo Morales, 22 Tomas Albornoz, 23 Matias Orlando
HEAD-TO-HEAD
These sides met in Wales in July of 2021, Argentina winning 33-11 and the previous game was a 20-20 draw the week before.
BETTING – Click here to bet
Wales 1/1
Draw 22/1
Argentina 19/20
Suggested Bet: Tri Bet, Any other result at 15/10
The Tri Bet gives you 3 options, you can back Argentina by 7 or more at 15/10, Wales to win by 7 points or more at 2/1 or any other result which means either team have to win by 6 or less or the match can be drawn. I think that this is going to be a titanic struggle with less than a score separating the teams and I prefer this bet than trying to pick a winner in this game.
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Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
