The first of Saturday's Rugby World Cup matches sees Argentina start as overwhelming favourites to boost their hopes of qualifying from Pool D when they come up against Chile in Nantes.
Argentina v Chile, Saturday 30th September, Nantes, KO 15:00 (South African time)
Referee: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Angus Gardner (RA), James Doleman (NZR)
TMO: Ben Whitehouse (WRU)
Weather Forecast – Nantes
Argentina:
Argentina suffered a 27-10 defeat to 14 man England in what was a “choice” opening game but they bounced back with a vital 19-10 win over Samoa in their second outing. Bofelli scored and concerted their only try against Samoa and also kicked 3 penalties. There was no bonus point and the margin of victory was shy of the 13.5 point main handicap line but it was a must win game and Los Pumas are on the board.
With England almost certain to fill one of the the top 2 spots in this pool Argentina will have a close eye on the outcome of Thursday's clash between Japan and Samoa. They are going to need to win this match and probably their final group game against Japan if they are to reach the quarter finals.
In the RWC outright betting Argentina are trading at around 1 / 10 with BoyleSports to reach the quarter finals although those odds may change depending on the outcome of the Japan v Samoa game.
Chile:
Chile have lost all 3 of their matches so far and will be heading home after this game. They were thrashed 71-0 by England in their most recent outing where the handicap was set at around 49.5 points.
Chile also went down 43-10 to Samoa (handicap 33.5 points) and their RWC finals debut against Japan saw them beaten 42-12 (handicap line mid 20's).
Team News
Argentina: 15 Martín Bogado, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Jeronimo de la Fuente (c), 11 Juan Imhoff, 10 Nicolas Sanchez, 9 Tomas Cubelli, 8 Facundo Isa, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti Pagadizabal, 3 Eduardo Bello, 2 Agustín Creevy, 1 Joel Sclavi
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Mayco Vivas, 18 Francisco Gómez Kodela, 19 Matias Alemanno, 20 Joaquín Oviedo, 21 Lautaro Bazan Velez, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Juan Cruz Mallia
Chile: 15 Inaki Ayarza, 14 Santiago Videla, 13 Domingo Saavedra, 12 Matias Garafulic, 11 José Ignacio Larenas, 10 Rodrigo Fernandez, 9 Marcelo Torrealba, 8 Raimundo Martínez, 7 Clemente Saavedra, 6 Martín Sigren (c), 5 Javier Eissmann, 4 Santiago Pedrero, 3 Matias Dittus, 2 Augusto Bohme, 1 Javier Carrasco
Replacements: 16 Tomas Dussaillant, 17 Salvador Lues, 18 Esteban Inostroza, 19 Augusto Sarmiento, 20 Alfonso Escobar, 21 Ignacio Silva, 22 Nicolas Herreros, 23 Francisco Urroz
The Betting
Argentina -47.5 points at 9/10
Chile +48.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Argentina have been playing at well below their potential and although the handicap is slightly below where I set it (-52.5) I will not be backing them on the minus.
They know what is required of them and that is to win against Chile and Japan (next week) to qualify and although the bonus point may not be required I think they will want to go into the match with Japan 2nd on the log on points difference in case that match ends up in a draw.
Chile have been disappointing since their opening game but I am going to give them another chance and will back them to score 8 points or more.
This game should open up at some point and I am hoping for an early penalty and then a try at some stage during the match.
Stay close to our forum thread where I will post any outright or points plays on this game
BET: 4 units Chile over 7.5 points at 10/11 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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