A preview of Saturday's Rugby Championship clash between Australia and Argentina including best bets and tryscorer specials with @Olimp_SA
Australia vs. Argentina, 25 September 12:05
Australia
The Wallabies completed the double against the Springboks last week with an impressive 30-17 win in Brisbane. Their defense held tight and they were able to restrict the visitors to just one try, while they were able to run in four tries courtesy of Len Ikitau and Marika Koroibete. They entered the match as underdogs with a 7 point handicap, but in the end they emerged comfortable winners and only briefly trailed on the scoreboard at the beginning of the second half.
Things were a lot tighter for Australia two weeks ago against South Africa when they managed to secure a 28-26 win at the death thanks to a Quade Cooper penalty. However, with the convincing win they put in last week they have shown that they are a much more improved side from last season. They may have started off poorly with a 57-22 and 38-21 loss to New Zealand, but they are now looking like serious contenders to finish second in this year’s tournament.
Argentina
The misery continued for Los Pumas last week against the All Blacks when they went down 36-13. They managed to cover the pre-match handicap for this match, but this was largely due to the fact that New Zealand were resting a number of their top players. Last week was also the highest total that they have managed in a Rugby Championship match so far this year and the points all came from Emiliano Boffelli who scored a try and slotted two penalties.
Argentina head into this match as underdogs once again and they are on track for the worst ever performance by any team in the Rugby Championship tournament. Prior to last week Argentina got a 39-0 hiding by a full strength All Blacks side, while their visit to South Africa featured a 32-12 and 29-10 loss.
They have now completed seven Rugby Championship matches without a win and average just under 10 points per match. With so few points being scored by Argentina it’s quite clear why the under total points has arrived in all of their matches so far this year.
Prediction
Things have not been good for Argentina this year and sadly for Los Pumas their opposition this week is not going to get any easier. Australia are probably in the best form they have been in for years after their double over the Boks and I can’t see Argentina improving on their performance from last week. The handicap for this match is set at a generous -10.5 in favour of Australia and I don’t see the Wallabies having any problem covering this one. If they could beat the Boks last week by 13 there is no reason that they cannot defeat Argentina by at least 11.
Argentina have only managed two tries so far this season and with Australia letting in only one try last week against the Boks it’s clear that the Wallabies defense is not an easy one to crack. Since Argentina are having a hard time at scoring points I will have to have a bet on the under total points which sits at 48.5 and I also like the first half handicap of -4.5 which also seems a tad on the low side. Marika Koroibete scored two tries last week against the Boks and looks to have ended his try-scoring drought. He is yet to score a try against Argentina and I like his chances of adding that milestone to his resume.
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