After a temporary lull rugby fans have plenty to look forward to this weekend with three Currie Cup matches and the opening two Rugby Championship tests.

There was some rugby last week with the kickoff of the Currie Cup and Griquas caused a massive upset when they beat the Sharks by 24 points in Durban despite starting 18 point underdogs.  The men from Kimberley look genuine contenders for a title against the bigger Unions who are missing their Springbok players.  There was 25/1 available about the Griquas last week and the best I have seen now is 10/1. If they host the final I will be there to support them and I hope you will join me, let’s take the “Big Hole” by storm!

It is the Rugby Championship which will attract the bulk of my betting spend this week though and in particular the match between Argentina and the All Blacks.  The All Blacks have made it clear that they will be fielding something of an experimental or second string side and while there is no such thing as a weak New Zealand side, they could be ripe for the taking by an Argentina team brimming with confidence after the performance of the Jaguares in Super Rugby. 

The handicap for this match has been set at Argentina (+13.5) points and I think this is too high.  I will be having a lumpy bet that the home team beat the handicap.  I think they may even have a chance of winning the match and if they do it will certainly bring them in to contention to win the Tournament.  I have joined Goodforthegame Forum member, Hanrick Swart, in nibbling at the 25/1 that they win the Rugby Championship and if you are not on yet, then 20/1 is still available and is probably worth a speculative interest. 

The Springboks are (-6.5) points against Australia and while at the time of writing the exact team composition was not known, we do know that Rassie Erasmus is splitting the squads for the opening two matches.  I am battling to find a betting angle on this one though as while Australia’s rugby seems to be in quite a state but they are likely to be at full strength. I will wait and see the total points quote before making my short term investment decision on this game.

Twitter: @BrentGraham

This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 18 July 2019.

Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and sends a free weekly e-mail list just CLICK HERE to register