Week 2 of the 6-week Rugby Championship tournament is set to take place on Saturday and Rob the Ringer shares his bets on New Zealand v Argentina and Australia v South Africa taking place in Auckland and Perth respectively.
NEW ZEALAND v ARGENTINA 2
Match Handicap: New Zealand -14.5
These sides went head-to-head last weekend in Wellington and the All Blacks opened up the scoring early on putting a penalty kick through the sticks. They then added to their lead with a well-worked, team try from inside their own 22m.
It was not long until the Los Pumas found their feet with a great try, and they followed it up with a further 3 points a few minutes later. New Zealand then pulled another try out the bag and converted it with 4 minutes left in the half, however they failed to exit off the kick off which led to another Argentinean try just on the brink of half time, leaving the score at 20-15 to the home side.
The Pumas took an early lead in the second half after a converted try and a penalty kick, leaving them 5 points ahead, however the All Blacks didn’t take long to claim the lead again and they scored 10 minutes into the half. The Argentina side then scored a crucial converted try with 10 minutes left to play and after kicking a late penalty they were up by 8 when the final whistle blew, resulting in a 38-30 upset win to the Pumas.
Head-To-Head
Before last weekend’s match, the Pumas had picked up 1 win in their last 4 fixtures on New Zealand soil. It is important to note that last time they beat New Zealand at home, they were hammered 53-3 just a week later.
ROB THE RINGER’S PLAY
I am expecting New Zealand to come out firing and will back them to score 15 points or more in the 1st half.
New Zealand 1st half points over 14.5 at 1.77
AUSTRALIA v SOUTH AFRICA 2
Match Handicap: Australia +12.5
These sides met in a clash last weekend in Brisbane to open up their Rugby Championship campaigns. The Springboks put the first points on the board with a spectacular line-out play, this gave them early momentum which they carried with them throughout the rest of the half, scoring and converting another 2 tries, leading to them being 21-0 up heading into the change rooms.
The Boks dominated most of the second half of the game, scoring an additional 2 tries and it was only in the last 5 minutes of play when the Wallabies struck back with their first try, with South Africa down to 13 men. This resulted in a final score of 33-7 in what was a stellar performance from the Boks.
Head-To-Head
Prior to last weekend’s match, the Springboks had only won 1 out of their last 4 games held in Australia since 2021.
ROB THE RINGER’S PLAY
The Boks have made loads of changes but they still put out a strong side and have a stacked bench. I am backing the Australians to lead at halftime with the Boks bench seeing them home for the win.
Halftime/Fulltime Australia/South Africa at 6.59
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Rugby Championship, Australia v South Africa, Argentina v New Zealand, Betting, Preview, Week 2