Welcome to the Weekend Preview for 11 September. These are special weekends in the rugby fan’s calendar. The Rugby Championship is really heating up, and the Women’s World Cup enters the quarter final stage. Check out our weekend preview of the action.
The main course this weekend is undoubtedly the Rugby Championship, which is shaping up to be one of the best in recent memory.
Rugby Championship Next Fixtures & Predictions
ROUND 4
We repeat last weekend’s matches as Australia host Argentina and New Zealand host South Africa. Both Australia and New Zealand have increased their win probabilities by 2% following last week’s victories. First, Australia had a come back win to reinforce the sense of belief which is growing in Australia right now. Could they take this form and win the tournament? With New Zealand up after this, they have to beat Argentina again to be in with a chance. Argentina themselves were sublime at times, and will be looking for revenge.
New Zealand toughed it out against South Africa last weekend, and it should be a very close battle once again. Maybe expect South Africa to tighten up a few loose issues to run New Zealand even closer.
There are very slender opportunities out there for a bet, the best one would probably be New Zealand to win as they are a slither underpriced.
Women’s World Cup Quarter Finals
Attention turns to the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals. Four clear favourites dominate the bracket – New Zealand, Canada, England, and France – and all are heavily backed by the bookmakers. The uneven nature of the matchups makes betting opportunities scarce.
Value Elsewhere in the Market?
Without the glut of domestic action, opportunities are not so easy to find this weekend. However, in France and the New Zealand Regional Championship, there is still value out there.
- Top 14, Racing 92 v Bordeaux (Saturday): Racing 92 at home are rated a 66% chance by our numbers, against 53% implied by the bookies. Look for anything over 1.68; prices around 1.95 are available.
- Top 14, La Rochelle v Clermont (Saturday): Bookies rate La Rochelle at 87%, our model at 76%. Caution advised on the hosts; Clermont may offer value.
- NPC, Southland v Counties (Friday): Southland are priced as 66% favourites, but we have them only at 51%. One to avoid.
- Pro D2, Brive v Valence (Friday): Our model gives Valence a 24% chance of success, compared with only 9% from the bookmakers. Anything over 4.49 looks attractive; odds as high as 14 are available.
You can check out more of the predictions and the betting analysis below for all rugby tournaments https://sports4cast.com/4casts/rugby4cast/
