In our weekend diary we look at the remaining Super Rugby Quarter Finals and the pick of the international football including AFCON 2019, Copa America and the Women’s World Cup whilst the race to seal semi final places in the Cricket World Cup continues to take shape.
Super Rugby
On Saturday the Hurricanes host the Bulls in Wellington, a tough task for the South African side but they did draw twice on tour against other New Zealand sides recently. As far as the betting is concerned the Canes are 1/5 to win the game, the draw is 33/1 and the Bulls can be backed at 4/1. The main handicap line sees the Bulls given a 12.5 point start and that might just be a big enough number. However, there are many more options for punters to consider including try scorer markets where you can select a player to score the first try, last try or to dot down anytime in the game. It’s that last “anytime” option that caught our attention and Handre Pollard, who has been in great form, could be worth an interest at odds of 5/1. Bet on Hurricanes v Bulls here.
The last of the quarter finals sees the Brumbies clash with the Sharks in Canberra. The Sharks are also underdogs for this game where the match result betting has the Australian side at 9/20 to come out on top, the draw is trading at 30/1 and the Sharks can be backed at 2/1. On the handicap the Sharks have been given a 6.5 point start. The Brumbies finished the season in top form and they were very strong in Canberra where they have reeled off 7 wins in a row. Bet on Brumbies v Sharks here.
U20 Rugby World Championship
Saturday is finals day in the Junior World Championship and after the disappointment of losing their semi final to France the Junior Boks take on host nation Argentina in the third place play off. South Africa start as favourites at 9/20 to win the game and -5.5 points on the handicap.
The final will be contested between Australia and France and the Australians are favourites at 8/13 to win the game and -2.5 points on the handicap.
All our rugby markets are available here.
Football: AFCON 2019
AFCON 2019 gets into full swing with 6 matches taking place this weekend. On Saturday D.R. Congo open their campaign Group A campaign with a tricky looking game against Uganda. Defeat in the first group match often spells disaster and that fear of losing could be a big factor here with the draw worth an interest at a shade over 2/1. Saturday’s Group B matches see Nigeria at a short price (7/20) to start with a win against Burundi and look out for Guinea in this tournament, especially if they oblige for favourite backers in beating AFCON debutants Madagascar.
On Sunday the first round of Group C matches see Senegal and Sadio Mane a warm order at 4/10 to beat Tanzania and Algeria are a similar price for their opening match against Kenya. Also on Sunday Morocco take on Namibia in Group C, a game that will be of huge interest to South Africa who’s clash with Ivory Coast in this group will be featured in our Monday bulletin.
More International Football
There are no shortage of options for football punters with group stage matches continuing in Copa America and the games are streamed live on World Sports Betting TV. Saturday’s action includes the final round of matches in Group A where host nation Brazil, who were surprisingly held to a 0-0 draw by Venezuela last time out, take on Peru. Both teams have 4 points from 2 games and this will decide top spot in the group. On Sunday Argentina come into their final Group B clash with Qatar battling to stay in the tournament after taking just 1 point from their first 2 matches.
The Womens World Cup has reached the knockout stage and the betting for the first four of the Round of 16 match up’s currently looks like this.
Saturday 17:30, Germany 1/5 Draw 11/2 Nigeria 12/1
Saturday 21:00, Norway 23/10 Draw 51/20 Australia 11/10
Sunday 17:30, England 1/7 Draw 27/4 Cameroon 17/10
Sunday 21:00, France 9/20, Draw 71/20, Brazil 23/4
Click here to bet on international football.
Cricket World Cup
Saturday’s action in the Cricket World Cup sees India as overwhelming favourites to chalk up another win when they meet Afghanistan. India remain unbeaten whilst Afghanistan look like they could go through the whole tournament without a victory. We have a full match betting preview on this link and we are looking for a big performance from Lokesh Rahul. Bet on India v Afghanistan.
The other match on Saturday sees New Zealand also bid to maintain their unbeaten record in a clash with West Indies. The Black Caps delivered a hammer blow to the Proteas hopes last time out to remain on course for the semi finals whilst West Indies haven’t won since their opening match of the tournament. Read our match betting preview here where we look to the New Zealand total sixes market for a bet. Bet on West Indies v New Zealand.
Heading into Sunday’s clash with Pakistan at Lords the Proteas remain stuck on just the one victory and any hopes of a semi final place have all but evaporated. Pakistan have failed to build on a surprise win over England early in the tournament but they will be backed by a fanatical support and could heap more misery on Faf du Plessis and his side. Our match preview is available here and all the betting markets are available on this link.
Horse Racing
There are two local meetings on Saturday with Scottsville taking centre stage with a 9 race card which includes the KZN Oaks and the KZN Derby. The first race is due off at 11:45 and later in the afternoon Mike de Kock’s Blossom is favourite for the Oaks and Brett Crawford’s Charles tops the boards for the Derby. Meanwhile Kenilworth stages 8 races on Saturday and Race 1 jumps at 12:35.
On Sunday there are 9 races at Turffontein on the inside track with a 12:10 start time.
Click here to bet on South African horse racing.
Day 5 of Royal Ascot on Saturday includes the Group 1 Diamond Jubilee on another star studded card.
Click here to bet on international racing.
Other Sports:
The French Grand Prix takes place on Sunday with Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton bidding to continue their dominance of the season so far. Click here to bet on the French Grand Prix.
Finally a reminder that you can bet live “in play” on the BMW International Open in Munich and the Travelers Championship held at TPC River Highlands, Connecticut throughout the weekend.
Note, all odds quoted are subject to change.
Have a great weekend punting.
