The Round 5 Rugby Championship clash between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on Saturday is also the Beldisloe Cup opener and both these sides have found wins hard to come by in the tournament so far.
Australia v New Zealand, Saturday 21st September, Sydney, KO 07:45 (South African time)
Referee: Karl Dickson (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (GRU), Damian Schneider (UAR)
TMO: Stuart Terheege (RFU)
Weather Forecast – Sydney
Australia:
The Wallabies are bottom the standings with a record of 1 win and 3 defeats and they have just the 4 log points.
They return home after back to back games against Los Pumas in Argentina which delivered vastly contrasting results. In Round 3 they came from 13-7 down half time to edge the contest 20-19 courtesy penalty right on the hooter. Last time out they found themselves 20-3 up on Argentina after half an hour but they conceded 9 tries including 4 in the last time minutes and crashed to a 62-27 defeat.
The Wallabies began their campaign with two defeats at home to the Springboks. A Round 1 clash with the Boks in Brisbane saw them go down 33-7 defeat. In Round 2 in Perth South Africa won 30-12 with the Wallabies failing to score a try.
The final round of the Rugby Championship and the second Bledisloe clash comes against All Blacks in Wellington next week.
New Zealand:
The All Blacks also have a record of 1 win and 3 defeats and they have earned 7 log points, 3 fewer than Argentina and 11 shy of the Springboks.
Back to back defeats to the Boks in South Africa in Rounds 3 and 4 ended their title hopes and they were in winning positions in both matches. Last time out in Cape Town they led 9-3 at half time but failed to score a try and the match ended in a 18-12 defeat. Prior to that they led the Boks 27-17 with just over 10 minutes remaining in Johannesburg but they were reduced to 14 men and eventually went down 31-27.
New Zealand's first two matches came at home to Argentina and delivered vastly contrasting results. In the opening round in Wellington they finished beaten, 38-30 but in Round 2 in Auckland they bounced back and in some style, running out 42-10 winners.
Team News
Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Marika Koroibete, 10 Noah Lolesio, 9 Nic White, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Nick Frost, 3 Taniela Tupou, 2 Matt Faessler, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 James Slipper, 18 Allan Alaalatoa, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Langi Gleeson, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Tom Lynagh, 23 Dylan Pietsch
New Zealand: 15 Beauden Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Cortez Ratima, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Wallace Sititi, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
Replacements: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Pasilio Tosi, 19 Sam Darry, 20 Luke Jacobson, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Sevu Reece
Recent Head to Head
2023 RC Melbourne Australia 7-38 New Zealand
2022 RC Auckland New Zealand 40-14 Australia
2022 RC Melbourne Australia 37-39 New Zealand
2021 RC Perth Australia 21-38 New Zealand
2021 RC Auckland New Zealand 57-22 Australia
2021 INT Auckland New Zealand 33-25 Australia
2020 TN Brisbane Australia 24-22 New Zealand
2020 TN Sydney Australia 5-43 New Zealand
The Betting -
Update September 21 01h03
Australia +16.5 points at 9/10
New Zealand -15.5 points at 9/10
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Betting Angle
Posted 20 September 00h51
This is a massive game for both sides with their respective local media and fan bases not happy with recent results and piling on the pressure.
The handicap has shifted from +12.5 Australia to +14.5 and indications are it may start at -15.5 or even -16.5.
I like the side that Schmidt has picked and I am expecting big improvement from the Aussies but am not quite ready to back them on the handicap and will wait to see if they drift further.
The total points line is 54.5 and in good conditions I am leaning overs but don’t see that moving much in the lead up to the game.
Holding fire for now.
Update: Posted 21 September 01h06
The money continues to come for New Zealand and there is now +15.5 and +16.5 Australia available.
The points line is stable at 54.5 although has edged to 55.5 in places.
I am expecting a big effort from Australia and will back them to score 20 points or more
BET: 4 units Australia over 19.5 points at 87/100 at Pokerbet*
*You can open a Pokerbet Account by clicking here
Ok it’s confession time. I am tapping out these bets having returned from a night out with my daughter (check the time of the update). I never went overboard with the drinks but somehow have this feeling Australia can win this.
BET: 1 unit Australia win at 15/2 at WSB
Note, odds quoted are available at the time of writing but are subject to change.
Join @BrentGraham and the panel live at 9pm on Thursday night for “The Handicap”. Subscribe to the channel and set a reminder here.
More tips, news and views are available on the weekly rugby thread on our discussion forum. If you are new to our community you can open an account here.
Subscribe to our free weekly betting mailer which will include our best and value bets below.
