After a week off whilst the Springboks and Pumas fly out to Australia and New Zealand, The Rugby Championship is back! Here are my round 3 predictions.
First here is a link to my round-up of all the global action from last weekend.
How did your Round 2 predictions go?
2 from 2, I’m 100% so far in this competition!
Here is my 1 Line Predictions with my reasons in full below.
New Zealand v Argentina
The All Blacks have been showing that it doesn’t matter if they lose a bunch of really experienced players to retirement and Europe. They have been building depth for several years but even those players without caps have been playing well. They are at a level above everybody else at the moment and I guess the only surprise from my poll is that only 88% of people think they will win. They have been quietly rotating players over their 5 games so far this season and I think we will see more of that but no impact on the performance.
A lot of people were worried about the Pumas coming into this championship but they have shown this was the target this year not Super Rugby. A home win over the Springboks sets them up well for a shot at second place. This weekend should all be about getting ready for next weekend against the Wallabies. They aren’t going to win this or get a LBP so it’s about match experience of combinations and a decent performance. The only question on this one is the margin and I’m going for 20 points.
I will live streaming my post game reaction via YouTube Live.
New Zealand by 2o
Australia v South Africa
This is a really interesting contest of 2 sides that don’t really know who they are. The Wallabies have had a horrible scheduled from the Rugby World Cup but 5 losses on the trot open the season looks bad. This is the side that made the Rugby World Cup final and it shows the small margins at the international level. The Wallabies will just be glad it’s not the All Blacks and I think that could take some of the weight off their shoulders.
The Springboks have looked like a side that doesn’t know what style it’s supposed to be playing and slips between expansive attack and 1 out rugby. The finger is being pointed at the inexperienced attack coach and you’d think bringing in an experienced consultant might help them. I just hope Coetzee sticks with the players he has been trying out rather than reverting back to a kicking game plan. The Springboks have only won once in Australia in the last 10 years and I think their traveling woes will continue as the Wallabies win by a score.
I will live streaming my post game reaction via YouTube Live.
Australia by 7
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