Boks2021A preview of Saturday's Rugby Championship clash between South Africa and New Zealand including best bets and tryscorer specials with @Olimp_SA

 

 

 

South Africa vs. New Zealand, Saturday 2 October 12:05

 

After a narrow loss last week South Africa look to avoid their fourth straight defeat and to end the Rugby Championship on a high when they take on New Zealand for the second time in two weeks.

 

South Africa

 

The Boks put in a much better performance against the All Blacks last week and at one stage looked like they may be able to clinch the game. They went into the match as 13.5 point underdogs and managed to cover the handicap comfortably which is a positive. However, many South African’s believe they really should have won the match and some questionable decisions in the last few minutes allowed the All Blacks to pick up a penalty at the death and secure a 19-17 win. South Africa’s only try last week came from Sbu Nkosi, while Pollard added four penalties.

 

Although they managed to give New Zealand their first real test of the tournament, last week’s loss was the third straight loss for the Springboks and it’s unlikely that they will finish higher than third place in this year’s tournament.

 

New Zealand

 

Last week was the first time this tournament that New Zealand failed to pick up a bonus point victory but they managed to get the job done nonetheless. It was far from a pretty win, but an early try from Will Jordan and a perfect kicking performance from Jordie Barrett meant that they were able to narrowly snatch victory.

The All Blacks have now secured their eighth Rugby Championship title and have managed to put together 10 consecutive wins. Most of these wins saw them cover the pre-match handicap comfortably and last week was only the second time this tournament that they have failed to do so.

 

Despite being pushed to the brink of defeat, New Zealand still managed to walk away with victory on Saturday and I expect them to come out firing this week to make up for last week’s below par performance. I believe it’s very unlikely that we will see another close affair on Saturday.

 

Prediction

 

The big question this week is whether or not South Africa will stick to their “kick and chase” game plan. After failing against Australia two weeks ago, it actually seemed to work against New Zealand for the majority of the match. The All Blacks’ back row struggled under the high ball and there were a number of knock-ons and catches that were missed from these kicks. However, the Boks failed to adapt their game plan when it was necessary and blew their chances of securing a memorable win in the 100th test against New Zealand.

 

New game plan or not, I believe the All Blacks will have a lot to prove after last week. I am sure they will go into this match better prepared for the high ball and if South Africa decide to switch to running rugby New Zealand will easily outperform them on that front. The Boks put a lot of energy into last week’s match and I feel that fatigue might just get to them later on in the match. If they do manage to keep things tight it’s unlikely to last the full 80 minutes and there is a good chance that New Zealand will run in some late tries after the Boks tire out. The pre-match handicap is set at -10.5 points in favour of New Zealand and I am confident that they will be able to cover this. The first half handicap is also set quite low at -4.5 points and although the All Blacks had a slow start last week I expect the opposite this time around. Sevu Reece returns for the All Blacks on the wing and I will be backing the big man to score the first try of the match.

 

BetOlimp Best Bets

New Zealand -10.5 – 1.89
First half handicap: New Zealand – 4.5 – 1.86
Sevu Reece to score the first try and New Zealand to win – 9.00

 

(Note, all odds quoted are subject to change)

 

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