The entertaining New Zealand Aotearoa Tournament continues this week and we take a look at both matches from a betting angle.
Outright Betting update, last week’s prices in brackets - Click here to bet
Crusaders 2/9 (4/10)
Blues 33/10 (22/10)
Hurricanes 18/1 (16/1)
Highlanders 50/1 (16/1)
Chiefs 125/1 (33/1)
The Crusaders win at home against the Blues last week has seen them shortened from 4/10 to 2/9 favourites with the Blues drifting out slightly to 33/10. You can get 18/1 and better the balance.
The Chiefs have lost all 4 matches and are favourites to finish bottom at 8/10 with the Highlanders 15/10 and other long term markets of interest include Top Try Scorer where Will Jordan of the Crusaders is 17/20 favourite.
HURRICANES v BLUES – click here to bet
This looks like a cracking encounter with the Blues still in title contention and the Hurricanes showing signs of bouncing back to something like their old form.
The Blues beat the Hurricanes at home early in the Tournament and they also won their last match in Wellington earlier this season winning 25-14. That broke a run of 5 successive Hurricanes home wins against the Blues.
The Hurricanes were full value for their 17/11 win against the Highlanders in Wellington last week although those who backed them on the (-6.5) handicap would have been disappointed that they could not put the visitors away. Their other home match in this Tournament was a 39-25 loss to the Crusaders.
The Blues title hopes took a real blow last week as they lost by 11 points to the Crusaders despite leading at the break. Their other away match saw them beat the Chiefs 24-12 in Hamilton.
BETTING
Hurricanes 17/20
Draw 25/1
Blues 11/10
Suggested Bet: Winning Margin, Hurricanes under 12.5 at 18/10
The money has come for the home team and I fancy them to edge a tight one.
CHIEFS v HIGHLANDERS – click here to bet
The Chiefs return from a bye having lost all 4 of their matches to date. Their 2 home matches have been a 7 point defeat to the Hurricanes and a 12 point loss to the Blues.
The Highlanders went down 17-11 to the Hurricanes away last week, but their other away match this season was a 3 point loss to the Blues in Auckland.
The Chiefs and Highlanders squared up in Dunedin in Round 1 of this Tournament with the Highlanders edging it and they won that match 28-27. The Highlanders have a good recent record against the Chiefs in Hamilton beating them in March of this year in the regular competition and then they drew in 2019. These sides have scored exactly the same amount of tries in the last 4 matches that the Chiefs have hosted.
BETTING
Chiefs 5/10
Draw 28/1
Highlanders 18/10
Handicap: Chiefs (-5.5) at 9/10, Highlanders (+5.5) at 9/10
Suggested Bet: Handicap, Chiefs (-5.5) at 9/10
There is not much to choose between these sides, but I think the Chiefs will benefit from the week off and that the Highlanders may start paying the price for a high tackle count over the past few weeks.
Note: All prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change
