We look at the 2 Sunday games international fixtures with Wales vs Fiji 1st up at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff followed by Scotland v South Africa at Murrayfield Stadium.
WALES vs FIJI – Click here to bet
Wales have participated in 8 international fixtures this year so far and they have struggled to find any form, losing all of these matches.
Their most recent matches were played back in July when they played Australia in 2 legs just a week apart. The first match was held at Allianz Stadium and saw the final scoreboard show 25-16 to Australia. The second match was played in Australia and once again Wales fell short, losing 36-28.
Fiji have played in 7 internationals since the middle of this year and they have done well, winning the Pacific Nations cup.
They played their most recent match just last weekend when they took on Scotland away from home at the Murrayfield Stadium. Fiji, missing some key players were often found on the back foot in the match and they struggled defensively, letting in 57 points and scoring just 17 of their own by the time the final whistle sounded.
It is however important to note that they will have players back this weekend that were not available for the Scotland fixture, which will increase their performance level on Sunday.
Head-to-Head
These sides have met 3 times since 2019, with 2 of the games being during a World Cup and 1 fixture being a friendly. The first match in the 2019 World Cup was won 29-17 by Wales, the second fixture in 2021 went the same way as we saw Wales claim a 38-23 victory. The most recent match was played in last year’s World Cup in the final match of the Group Stages where Fiji came extremely close but could not win in the end, the final score was 32-26 to the Welsh.
HANDICAP: Wales -6.5
VERDICT
I believe that although Fiji will get some important players back this weekend, they will be unable to overcome the Welsh side and Wales will win narrowly as we have seen them do in the past.
BET: Winning Margin Wales under 12.5 points at 2.60
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SCOTLAND vs SOUTH AFRICA – Click here to bet
Scotland have done well for themselves this season internationally and they have played 10 fixtures and won 7 so far.
The last time they took to the field was last weekend when they took on a weakened Fiji side and ran away with a dominant win in the end, scoring 8 tries, with 4 of them coming from Darcy Graham who will miss this fixture.
They were on point defensively for most of the game conceding just 17 points which resulted in a 40-point victory.
South Africa’s most recent action took place in August/September during the Rugby Championships in which they won 5 out of 6 games, resulting in them lifting the cup.
Their campaign started off with 2 dominant wins over Australia away from home, with the final scores being 33-7 and 30-12 respectively. They then went on to play two legs against New Zealand in front of South African crowds and they managed to narrowly come out on top both times, winning the first match 31-27 and the second match 18-12. Their last 2 games of the tournament saw them matched up against Argentina, where the first match was held in Argentina and the Boks just lost 29-28. The second match was held in South Africa where the Boks found their winning form again and picked up a dominant 48-7 victory.
Head-to-Head
These sides have met just twice in Scotland since 2018 where both matches were held at Murrayfield, with the first match in November 2018 ending in a 26-20 South African win. The second and most recent match was played in 2021, where South Africa once again claimed victory, this time with a final score of 30-15.
HANDICAP: Scotland +8.5
VERDICT
I think that despite Scotland’s recent form being solid, they have not quite been matched up against a side with the calibre of South Africa and I expect the visitors and World Champions will do enough to beat the handicap.
BET: Handicap, South Africa -8.5 at 10/11
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
