There may not have been any South African interest last week, but it did not stop many of us from getting up at 5 o’clock in the morning to watch the Blues against the Hurricanes in Auckland.
The Super Rugby Aotearoa competition got going and we were treated to 2 thrilling matches and I am pleased to say that they were successful from a betting angle as well. In the opener the Chiefs started favourites away to the Highlanders, but it was clear early on that they were not going to have things their own way and in very un- New Zealand like fashion 2 drop goals in the last 3 minutes, one from either side, saw the Highlanders scrape a 1 point victory.
In the Goodforthegame Preview we went for the Chiefs to win the second half by 3 points or more and although they lost the game we got off to a cracking start.
I have to be careful when I sing the praises of the Blues as it is well known that I have got an expensive soft spot for them. I was, along with most of the panel on our YouTube Show, “The Handicap” pretty confident in them this week and the money certainly came as they opened up (-2.5) and started (-5.5) favourites.
The Hurricanes gave some cheek early and our suggested bet of the Blues to be ahead at half-time and to win the match at 1/1 certainly looked in trouble, but they snuck into the lead at the break and kicked on nicely to win the game by 10 points delivering a perfect opening weekend for us in Super Rugby.
Of course the big question is can the Blues deliver two weeks in a row and this week they are away at the Chiefs and the Chiefs are currently slight favourites at 15/20 with the Blues on offer at 5/4 and the draw at 25/1.
This weekend also sees the Crusaders make their 1st appearance and they are away at the Hurricanes. The Crusaders have been set as favourites here (-6.5) but based on the opinions in the Goodforthegame Forum this line may edge out a point or two, perhaps to around the (-8.5) mark.
Super Rugby aside there is also a full weekend of English Premier League action to look out for, good betting everyone.
Twitter: @BrentGraham.
This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 18 June 2020.
Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and sends a free weekly e-mail list just CLICK HERE to register