This past weekend was unusual in that I didn’t have any school sporting events to watch so I could focus on the Rugby World Cup Quarter-Finals.

I started the weekend with a nice win, backing England to beat Australia by 9 points or more, but promptly gave that back in the New Zealand v Ireland game where I thought it would be a low scoring affair and that the Irish would give a much better account of themselves.

On Sunday morning South African time I found myself loving the French more and more and took 5/2 that they would beat the Welsh. They dominated the match and had their chances to wrap it up in the first half, but a red card early in the second meant they were up against it and they eventually lost by a point to a somewhat dubious try. The damage wasn’t great as it was a small bet but I was seriously annoyed.

I was really strong on the Springboks against Japan though and had a big bet that they would win by 15 points or more. Watching at a friend’s house the pressure began to tell as Willie Le Roux’s fumbling hands threatened to derail the Bok bet, but in the end they overpowered Japan to ensure a profitable weekend.

The All Blacks performance against Ireland was very convincing and they have shortened from 12/10 to 17/20 to win the tournament. South Africa are 3/1 second favourites with England at 9/2, the price you could have backed them at before the quarter-finals. Wales are the outsiders at 10/1.

Looking at the respective semi-finals, England are (+7.5) points against New Zealand and there has been some money for South Africa with the handicap shifting from an opening call of (-6.5) to the current (-8.5) Springboks line.

I haven’t decided where my money is going yet, but there is a good chance it will be on the Springboks to record a double figures win against a Wales team that doesn’t look at its best and those who have followed me since the beginning of the tournament will know that come kick-off of the New Zealand v England game on Saturday I will be singing “Swing Low Sweet Chariot.”

Enjoy the semi-finals and look out for our YouTube Betting Preview live at 21:00 on Thursday night.

Twitter: @BrentGraham

This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 24 October 2019.

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