Ahead of the fifth round of the Rugby Championship, we look at the best bets from the South Africa v Australia and Argentina v New Zealand games.
South Africa v Australia
The Springboks will be keen to continue with their fine recent form when they face the Wallabies, who are currently at bottom of the table.
The Springboks are unbeaten in five previous matches at the Nelson Mandela Stadium and that record and their shock victory over New Zealand in their previous match, makes them favourites with the bookmakers, who on average have them around the 1/3 mark.
Meanwhile, Michael Cheika’s charges are best priced at 11/4 with William Hill and Smarkets to claim the victory. These two sides are evenly matched and drew both their matches in last year’s competition and the average odds on that happening again is 25/1.
Although they are the underdogs in this Test, Australia have plenty of game-breakers in their side and they look a handy option to score the opening try. A Wallabies try as the game’s opening score is at 6/1 or if you want to take a bet on them opening the scoring with a penalty, 888sport have them at 5/2.
With matches between these sides usually close, South Africa are 5/2 to win by a margin of between one to seven points while Australia’s odds to win by the same margin is at 7/2.
Australia’s chances of winning both halves also looks enticing at 13/2 on average but the Boks’ are in Port Elizabeth and a victory for the home side by between 11 and 15 points is worth a try with odds of 13/2 on Ladbrokes and Coral.
Elsewhere, the first try-scorer odds of 16/1 with SkyBet for Marika Koroibete catch the eye while the favourite in this market is Springbok wing Aphiwe Dyantyi (17/2 with Betfair).
Argentina v New Zealand
New Zealand will be smarting after their recent Rugby Championship home defeat to South Africa when they tackle Argentina in Buenos Aires.
Those who backed the Boks to win Wellington deserve a round of applause as few saw that one coming, especially after the All Blacks’ start.
This week Steve Hansen’s men are as short at 1/12 with some bookmakers to prevail but surely that’s excessive seeing as Argentina come into this game following a victory on the road in Australia while New Zealand are missing captain Kieran Read, Brodie Retallick and Owen Franks.
Argentina are 17/2 with BetVictor while the handicap is at 17 points, with Betway offering an Evens price on that market. The same bookie also has odds of 8/1 on Argentina leading at half-time but New Zealand coming away with the victory, which doesn’t look a bad bet to take. On the same market – if you think Argentina are set for a great day – the Pumas are 16/1 with BetVictor to be half-time/full-time winners.
The Pumas have shown real improvement under Mario Ledesma and one wouldn’t expect them to be walked over, with their counter-attack making them a dangerous side. New Zealand won’t have an easy day so the All Blacks not to win both halves at 16/13 with 888sport looks a safe bet.
On the player front it’s hard to look past Rieko Ioane (15/2 with Betfair), Waisake Naholo (17/2 with Betfair) and Bautista Delguy (16/1 with Bet365) as first try-scorer options.