The first action in the final round of of the Rugby Championship comes from Perth on Saturday where both Australia and New Zealand need a victory to stay in with any chance of winning the title.

Australia v New Zealand, Saturday 4th October, Perth, KO 11:45 (South African time)

Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Morné Ferreira (SARU)
TMO: Andrew Jackson (RFU)

Weather Forecast – Perth

Australia:

The Wallabies 33-34 defeat to the All Blacks in Round 5 in Auckland last week torpedoed their Bledisloe Cup hopes and makes their chances of landing the Rugby Championship title pretty remote. Australia have slipped to third in the standings with 11 points, 2 better off than Argentina but 3 behind the All Blacks and 4 adrift of South Africa and they are now 28/1 shots to win the tournament with Hollywoodbets

The bookmakers main handicap line for Bledisoe 1, RC Round 5 clash at Eden Park saw Australia drift to 16.5 point underdogs and that didn't look likely to be enough when they were 20-3 down inside the first half hour. Not for the first time this tournament a Wallabies fightback was witnessed and they reduced the gap to just 2 points at one stage but the final try went the way of the All Blacks and Australia left empty handed. Pollard, Potter and Tizzano scored Australia's tries, all converted by O Connor.

Earlier two home games against Argentina in Rounds 3 and 4 both produced thrilling finishes. In the first clash with Los Pumas in Townsville the Wallabies were also in some trouble at half time when they trailed 21-7 but they fought back in the second half and a try 6 minutes after the hooter gave them a 28-24 victory. In Round 4 in Sydney Los Pumas edged the contest 28-26 and much of the damage was done in the first half with the Wallabies 21 points down with just 16 minutes remaining.

Australia defied the odds to beat South Africa in Round 1 in Joburg thanks to a sterling comeback from 22-0 down early on to come out on top 38-22, their first win in South Africa since 2011. They couldn't follow up in Cape Town in Round 2 when they went down to the Boks 30-22.

New Zealand:

New Zealand's win over the Wallabies at Eden Park last week keeps their hopes of the Rugby Championship title alive but their failure to land an extra log point makes that task much tougher. They come into the final round in second place, 1 point behind South Africa who take on Argentina at Twickenham in the final match later on Saturday. In the outright betting to win the tournament the All Blacks are 33/10 second favourites with Hollywoodbets

New Zealand scored 4 tries to Australia's 3 in Round 5 through Clarke, Carter and 2 from Roigard, the second of which snuffed out Australia's comeback and effectively sealed the win. Beauden Barrett picked up an injury that has seen him ruled out of this match.

In Round 4 New Zealand were thrashed 43-10 by the Springboks in Wellington, a game they led 10-7 at half time before they were completely overwhelmed. The first clash with South Africa came in Auckland in Round 3 and the All Blacks eventually ran out winners 24-17.

New Zealand were in Argentina for the first 2 rounds of the tournament. A full house of log points in a 41-24 victory over Los Pumas in Round 1 was a perfect start but they paid the price for ill discipline in their Round 2 defeat (29-23) to in Buenos Aires.

Recent Head to Head

2025 RC Auckland New Zealand 33–24 Australia

2024 RC Wellington New Zealand 33-13 Australia

2024 RC Sydney Australia 28-31 New Zealand

2023 RC Melbourne Australia 7-38 New Zealand

2022 RC Auckland New Zealand 40-14 Australia

2022 RC Melbourne Australia 37-39 New Zealand

Team News

Australia:15 Max Jorgensen, 14 Harry Potter, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Filipo Daugunu, 10 Tane Edmed, 9 Jake Gordon, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Tom Hooper, 5 Will Skelton, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Billy Pollard, 1 James Slipper.
Replacements: 16 Josh Nasser, 17 Tom Robertson, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Jeremy Williams, 20 Rob Valetini, 21 Ryan Lonergan, 22 James O’Connor, 23 Josh Flook

New Zealand: 15 Will Jordan, 14  Leroy Carter, 13  Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett (vice-Captain), 11 Leicester Fainga’anuku, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Peter Lakai, 7 Ardie Savea (vice-Captain), 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Tamaiti Williams.
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 George Bower, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Wallace Sititi, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Rieko Ioane, 23 Ruben Love

The Betting

Average early show, subject to change

Australia +4.5 points at 9/10

New Zealand -4.5 points at 9/10

Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.

This Weeks Bets

Brent Graham's betting angle and plays for Week 6 of the Rugby Championship will be posted on this Blog.

Likewise we will use this blog for tips the second round of the URC.

Finally, all this week's rugby tips from members of the Goodforthegame community can be found on the weekly rugby thread on our brand new discussion forum. If you haven't done so already, register a forum account here.

Understanding Rugby Handicap Betting Rugby handicap betting is one of the most popular ways to wager on matches, especially when there is a strong favourite and the bookmakers want to even out the contest. Let’s break down what a handicap is, why it exists, how it works in practice, and what punters should look out for. Find out more