It been two exhilarating weeks of international rugby league with the Pacific Championships delivering exciting fixtures. That doesn’t appear as though it will change heading into this weekend, with two blockbuster matches ahead. What might seem as two straight forward fixtures will be anything but that once the opening whistle sounds. Before You Bet is here to take a closer look at what is ahead, with the aim of finding you a winner or two to add to your viewing enjoyment.
Pacific Championships – Week 3 Preview & Betting Tips
PNG Kumuls vs Fiji Bati
The Kumuls turned on a dazzling attacking display but were vulnerable in defence in their 40-28 victory over the Cook Islands. An 80th minute converted try extended the margin as their opponents got closer than most expected. Unfortunately, a horror 61% completion rate let them down. The Fijians had no such issues in their victory over the same team in Week 1, winning 44-24. While it is probably higher than they would’ve wanted, ‘garbage time’ tries only closed the margin of victory. Defence will be key to winning this match. There is no shortage of attacking power for either team. The fact that Fiji appeared more capable in their opening match justifies them as favourites for this match. Do not count out the home ground advantage for PNG though; many teams find this a challenging environment to win in under such pressure. This will ensure the margin of victory is far narrow in what is anticipated to be a high scoring affair. Given the average points scored across two games is 68, it is best to use this to your advantage and enjoy everything this game has to offer.
Total Points Over 48.5 points
$1.90 (2 units)
PNG Kumuls vs Fiji Bati Same Game Multi
Either team by 10.5 points – see above for clarification.
Turuva to score – it was a quiet day out for him in the opening week. You can only keep this prolific try scoring machine out of a game for so long.
Doti to score – called into this game as a replacement winger, he is in form scoring plenty of tries this season in the Queensland Cup.
Same Game Multi Odds = $6.80 at Dabble
PNG vs Fiji Betting Odds & Match Info
Date: Saturday 1st November
Location: Santos National Football Stadium, Port Moresby
Time: 4pm (AEDT)
Odds: PNG $2.05 vs Fiji $1.78
Line: +1.5
Points: 48.5
New Zealand Kiwis vs Tonga XIII
The Kiwis have had a week off to recover from their bruising 24-18 victory over Samoa. After jumping to a 12-nil lead, they were made to work for their victory. Mistakes let them down in the second half, as did missed tackles (35), but the strong platform was established early in the contest, and they showed poise when it mattered. The less said about Tonga’s 34-6 loss last week the better. Outplayed in all areas, they only crossed with two minutes remaining. They were always going to struggle with just 45% possession and missing 48 tackles. Still, they have a chance to progress to the Final if they record a large victory here. The Kiwis have two major omissions for this contest in Mulitalo and Marshall-King; adequate replacements have been named but this sees a drop in quality. Tonga have their own issues to contend with also with Toia and Utoikamanu out but are boosted by the return of Taumalolo to the starting side. You’d expect that the visitors will be an improved team on last week. That effort was too bad to believe. With the Kiwis also still improving but not without their flaws, their opponents will test them and keep the margin of victory small in an exciting game.
New Zealand 1-12
$2.85 (1.5 units)
New Zealand vs Tonga Betting Odds & Match Info
Date: Sunday 2nd November
Location: Eden Park, Auckland
Time: 4:05pm (EST)
Odds: New Zealand $1.36 vs Tonga $3.10
Line: -9.5
Points: 45.5
