Friday night's international rugby sees Ireland clash with Argentina in Dublin and the home side are bidding to bounce back after losing their long unbeaten home record to the All Blacks last week.
Ireland v Argentina, Friday 15th November, Dublin, KO 22:10 (South African time)
Referee: Paul Williams (NZR)
Assistant Referees: Craig Evans (WRU), Angus Mabey (NZR)
TMO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
Weather Forecast: Dublin
Ireland:
Ireland's end of year program started against the All Blacks in Dublin last week, one of the highlights of the November internationals. They started as favourites at around 6.5 points on the main handicap line but failed to fire and New Zealand came out on top, 23-13. The defeat ended Ireland's 19 game winning streak in Dublin, the try count was 1-1 with van der Flier crossing for the Irish who were punished for errors with New Zealand landing 6 penalties to 2.
Ireland's mid year tour of South Africa saw the series shared 1-1. Ireland lost the first test 27-20 but squared things up with a nail biting 25-24 victory in the second contest.
Ireland came into the Six Nations earlier this year as favourites and they successfully defended the title finishing 5 points clear of France. A 23-22 defeat to England at Twickenham in Round 4 torpedoed hopes of another Grand Slam whilst their four other matches ended in victory; in France (38-17), at home to Italy (36-0), at home to Wales (31-7) and at home to Scotland (17-13).
Argentina:
Argentina put Italy away 50-18 in Udine last week, taking control in the second half when 5 of their total of 7 tries were scored in a very comfortable victory.
Argentina's recent Rugby Championship campaign comprised of vastly contrasting results. They started by turning the All Blacks over in New Zealand 38-30 but a round later they lost to the same opponent 42-10. They returned home to be edged out by Australia 20-19 and then hammered the Wallabies 67-27 next time out. Another home fixture saw Los Pumas edge out the Springboks 29-28 which kept them in with a slim chance of landing the title heading into the final round. However the return with the Boks in South Africa was a one sided contest and Los pumas were thumped 48-7.
In Juy Los Pumas came up against France and honours were once again even as they lost the first test 28-13 and won the second 33-25.
Team News
Ireland: 15 Hugo Keenan, 14 Mack Hansen, 13 Garry Ringrose, 12 Robbie Henshaw, 11 James Lowe, 10 Jack Crowley, 9 Jamison Gibson-Park, 8 Caelan Doris (captain), 7 Josh van der Flier, 6 Tadhg Beirne, 5 James Ryan, 4 Joe McCarthy, 3 Finlay Bealham, 2 Ronan Kelleher, 1 Andrew Porter.
Replacements: 16 Rob Herring, 17 Cian Healy, 18 Thomas Clarkson, 19 Ryan Baird, 20 Peter O’Mahony, 21 Craig Casey, 22 Sam Prendergast, 23 Jamie Osborne
Argentina: 15 Juan Cruz Mallia, 14 Rodrigo Isgro, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Matias Moroni, 11 Bautista Delguy, 10 Tomas Albornoz, 9 Gonzalo Bertranou, 8 Joaquin Oviedo, 7 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Pedro Rubiolo, 4 Guido Petti, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julian Montoya (captain), 1 Thomas Gallo.
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Ignacio Calles, 18 Francisco Gomez Kodela, 19 Franco Molina, 20 Santiago Grondona, 21 Gonzalo Garcia, 22 Santiago Carreras, 23 Justo Piccardo
Recent Head to Head
Nov 2021 Dublin Ireland 53–7 Argentina
Nov 2018 Dublin Ireland 28–17 Argentina
Nov 2017 Dublin Ireland 28–19 Argentina
The Betting
Updated 14h19 15 Nov
Ireland -12.5 points at 9/10
Argentina +12.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
The handicap opened Ireland -13.5 and there has been some support for Argentina with +12.5 generally on offer.
Ireland were so disappointing last week and the question in my mind is whether that was just a bad day at the office or a sign that the team could be losing ground to other top tier sides.
It is probably more the former but I am still leaning towards a much improved Argentina side on the handicap.
The total points line of 49.5 looks weel set and if I get involved in this or any other market I will post the bet in our rugby forum thread
BET: 3 units Argentina +12.5 at 9/10 at HollywoodBets*
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Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
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