South Africa make their first International appearance since winning the World Cup in France last year when they take on Wales at the Twickenham Stadium on Saturday. We take a look at the game from a betting angle.
SOUTH AFRICA
South Africa’s last action was in the World Cup Final at the end of October last year when they beat New Zealand 12-11 in that thrilling final. It was their 3rd consecutive 1 point victory which included the quarter-final and semi-final wins against France and England respectively. In the Group stages South Africa won 3 and lost 1 match with the defeat coming in a low scoring encounter, 13-8 against Ireland.
Due to this Test falling outside of the International window and the Bulls playing in the URC Final, the Springboks have named a very different side to the one which ran out in Paris.
South Africa
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Jordan Hendrikse, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain), 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Ben-Jason Dixon, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Damian de Allende
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WALES
Wales got the Wooden Spoon in the Six Nations Championship losing all 5 of their matches including their last game, a 24-21 defeat to Italy in Wales. They were also given a 21 point hiding by France and a 24 point beating by Ireland and they pushed England and Scotland close.
They were beaten quarter-finalists in the World Cup losing to Argentina and they have also named an experimental side for this clash.
Wales
15 Cameron Winnett, 14 Liam Williams, 13 Owen Watkin, 12 Mason Grady, 11 Rio Dyer, 10 Sam Costelow, 9 Ellis Bevan, 8 Aaron Wainwright, 7 James Botham, 6 Taine Plumtree, 5 Ben Carter, 4 Matthew Screech, 3 Henry Thomas, 2 Dewi Lake (captain), 1 Gareth Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Evan Lloyd, 17 Kemsley Mathias, 18 Keiron Assiratti, 19 James Ratti, 20 Mackenzie Martin, 21 Gareth Davies, 22 Eddie James, 23 Jacob Beetham.
HEAD-TO-HEAD
These sides last met in 2023 where South Africa beat Wales 52-16 in Cardiff. The sides had previously played a 3 match series in South Africa in 2022 which South Africa won 2-1.
South Africa played a test match at Twickenham last year beating New Zealand 35-7 in preparation for the World Cup.
BETTING – Click here to bet
South Africa 1/20
Draw 55/1
Wales 13/1
Handicap: South Africa -19.5
The handicap opened -14.5 for this game, but there has been plenty of money for South Africa on the back of team news.
I can’t look past a South African win here, but they may be a bit rusty coming out of the blocks and I am going to back Wales to beat the first-half handicap.
Suggested Bet: First-Half Handicap, Wales +8.5 at 19/20
There are plenty of other betting options on the game and the Total Points line has been set at 54.5. There looks to be a bit of rain around Twickenham in the morning, but it should have cleared up for this one and I think we could get some entertaining rugby played.
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Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
