Ahead of the opening weekend of 2018’s November internationals, we take a look over the best bets from two games taking place on Saturday.
There’s four high profile Tests scheduled as Japan clash with New Zealand, Wales host Scotland, England meet South Africa and Ireland face Italy, with this weekend the starter ahead of a busy feast of international rugby that will follow over the upcoming Saturdays this month.
We go for Wales against Scotland and England versus South Africa as this week’s betting previews so without further ado, here’s our punts.
Wales v Scotland
Wales come into this fixture on a five-game winning run after beating Italy, France, South Africa and Argentina (twice) in the last eight months. Meanwhile Scotland have won three of their last five outings as they saw off Italy, Canada and Argentina, losing to Ireland and USA.
Warren Gatland’s men are 4/9 with 888 Sport and the majority of the bookies to win in Cardiff with Scotland priced at 56/25 (Marathon Bet). Clearly there’s not a great deal to choose between the sides and Scotland are without Finn Russell, which hands a chance to Adam Hastings.
It’s a six-point handicap with the bookies with BetFred having the best price there at 20/21, but it’s the race to 10 points market that’s caught our eye as we expect the Scots to come out firing. They are 7/4 with SkyBet to reach 10 points first which seems a decent option.
On the personal front, Huw Jones could be the man to get the ball rolling for Scotland in Cardiff on Saturday and at 20/1 with Betfair the prolific centre is good value to cross first. For Wales a perfect debut for Luke Morgan would see him get the first try at 17/2 with Bet365.
England v South Africa
The standout game of the weekend sees England and the Springboks face off for the fourth time this year, with the former looking to level matters at 2-2 after their series loss in June. They’re best priced 3/4 favourites with Black Type while the Boks are 69/50 (Marathon Bet).
England ended a slump of five straight defeats on the international scene with that victory in Cape Town, which gave Eddie Jones breathing space as the knives were being sharpened. They will need to start November on a positive especially with New Zealand next on the schedule.
South Africa are without the likes of Willie le Roux and Faf de Klerk for this match and that could prove costly for the Boks, who have a two-point handicap start at 21/20 with Betway. You can also get South Africa at +3 points with 888 Sport. England -2 is 20/21 (Betfred).
The weather forecast is promising for November as there is a low chance of the wet weather conditions that visibly suited England in that Cape Town win. We should therefore hope for a much better try return this Saturday and we like Elliot Daly to go over anytime for the hosts while England are 2/1 to win both halves (888 Sport). While England are depleted up front, the absence of De Klerk for the Boks could be costly.