New Zealand vs Australia
Eden Park, Auckland. Saturday, 17th of August, 5.35pm (AEST)
The Wallabies are on the verge of breaking a long drought in the Bledisloe Cup as they aim to capture the trophy from the All Blacks for the first time since 2003 on Saturday evening. At Optus Stadium last Saturday, the Wallabies produced one of their best performances in years as they crushed the All Blacks, 47-26. It was a tight first half with Australia finding the line first before the All Blacks hit back with consecutive tries. Recently, the Wallabies have had trouble with fade outs in second halves, especially against New Zealand. But they finished the stronger side this time around, scoring 3 tries in the last 20 minutes to secure a famous victory.
With the World Cup just a few months away, this victory will give Australia’s squad a huge confidence boost coming into Japan in September. But they’ll need to overturn an incredibly poor record at Eden Park, the fortress of All Blacks Rugby. You have to go all the way back to 1986 when the Wallabies last beat the All Blacks at this venue! (0-18 SU).
In this matchup, New Zealand have made a few team changes after a disappointing result in Perth. Veterans Owen Franks and Ben Smith have both been dropped. While in the backline, the All Blacks are going with a younger combination with the likes of Bridge and Reece lining up for the home side. Meanwhile, the Wallabies will likely remain fairly unchanged in their team lineup. Pocock missed the Perth test and they’ll probably not risk him in NZ either. They also may opt to rest massive lock, Rory Arnold. Ultimately, the Wallabies have the momentum after last week and we believe they can back up their performance in Perth with a good showing at Eden Park.
There’s no doubt this proud All Blacks team will respond with a better performance in front of their home faithful. But the Wallabies will know this is likely their best chance to finally end the Bledisloe Cup drought in a long time so there’s extra motivation in that sense. In the end, the value looks to be with either team winning this game by under 12.5 points. New Zealand did play in a draw against South Africa in their last home test and the Wallabies should be a tough opponent as well.
Either team by under 12.5
$2.05
