Ireland will take on Australia at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday in what is in a sense a curtain raiser to the Lions tour of Australia next year.
Ireland’s head coach, Andy Farrell will coach the Lions side and he takes on Joe Schmidt who was his predecessor at Ireland.
This will be the first time the two coaches face off against each other and we look at the match from a betting angle.
Ireland
Ireland hosted Fiji last weekend and delivered a brilliant performance, winning the match 52-17 to make light work of a 20 point handicap. This was the second win in a row after beating Argentina by 3 points the week before, with that match ending 22-19. They opened their November campaign with a 10 point loss to New Zealand going down 13-23.
Ireland starting lineup
15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Bundee Aki, 11 James Lowe, 10 Sam Prendergast, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Gus McCarthy, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Tom O’Toole, 19 Iain Henderson, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Jack Crowley, 23 Garry Ringrose.
Coach Andy Farrell has made a few changes to the normal Ireland and Sam Prendergast starts at fly-half suggesting he is looking to the future. Robbie Henshaw comes into centre and Gary Ringrose goes onto the bench. Jack Crowley returns to the squad as he grabs the number 22 jersey. Cian Healy will be set to become the most capped Irish player of all time if he is to come off the bench this weekend.
Australia
Australia lost their first match of the Autumn Nation series as Scotland beat them 27-13 last weekend. The started well but Scotland took control from around the 10 minute mark and overall it was a disappointing performance from the Aussies.
They had won the previous two matches hammering Wales and beating England in a high scoring thriller. They will be looking to make a statement against Ireland this weekend.
Australia starting lineup
15. Tom Wright, 14. Andrew Kellaway, 13. Joseph-Aukuso Sua’ali’i, 12. Len Ikitau, 11. Max Jorgensen, 10. Noah Lolesio, 9. Jake Gordon, 8. Harry Wilson (capt.), 7. Fraser McReight, 6. Rob Valetini, 5. Jeremy Williams, 4. Nick Frost, 3. Taniela Tupou, 2. Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1. James Slipper
Replacements: 16. Billy Pollard, 17. Angus Bell, 18. Allan Alaalatoa, 19. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20. Langi Gleeson, 21. Tate McDermott, 22. Tane Edmed, 23. Harry Potter
Australia have named a very experienced side with James Slipper and Taniela Tupou returning to the side to start at 1 and 3.
Head-to-Head
Ireland have won four of the last five matches against Australia with two of those matches being played in 2018 in Australia. The two sides last met in 2022 in Dublin where Ireland just got over the line to win the match 13-10.
Betting and Verdict
Ireland are favorites to win the match and are trading at 1.14 while Australia are trading at 7.00 and the draw is quoted at 34.00. The handicap at the time of writing is Ireland [-13.5] at 1.90.
Ireland are coming off the back of a big win against Fiji last weekend while Australia lost by 14 points against Scotland. Ireland haven’t been at their best all November but I get the sense they are starting to find their rhythm and they can beat what is starting to look a tired Australian team.
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Ireland [-13.5] at 1.90.
In Ireland’s match against Fiji last weekend the first-half saw 31 points being scored across both teams while the second-half saw a total of 38 points being scored. Australia had a similar result when their first-half against Scotland saw a total of 10 points being scored while the second-half saw a staggering 30 points being scored across both teams. Ireland are often a team that runs away with the match come the second-half and I can see the second-half being the highest scoring of the match.
Suggested Bet: Highest scoring half, 2nd at 1.90
Click here for all Ireland v Australia betting
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
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