Let me start this article by reflecting on the fact that this coming weekend is usually the biggest one of the year for me. Were it not for COVID-19 it would be the Durban July as well as the Tour de France and there is usually Wimbledon Finals as well as quality Rugby. I am really going to miss the annual get together with friends and family.
All is not lost though as we have the latter with the New Zealand Super Rugby Tournament continuing and my Blues continue to look good with 3 successive victories.
You could feel the excitement in the air when the New Zealand Tournament started on June 13th, but the general feeling among rugby punters is that the Australian version (the tournament gets going this weekend) is not going to be as anything like the same level. They are probably right, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be betting opportunities and, in fact, listening to the panel on last week’s YouTube Rugby betting show, THE HANDICAP, I started getting quite excited.
There are a lot of names we don’t know in the Australian sides and if you are not prepared to do your research that could be a problem. However, for those willing to knuckle down and look deeper into the squads there is no doubt there is value to be had. An example is that the lads were calling the Reds (-3.5) points at home to the Waratahs as a good bet and as I write this the handicap has already shifted out to (-7.5) so if you took the early advice you would certainly be sitting on what looks like some cracking value.
The other game see Tournament favourites, the Brumbies, host the Rebels and here the Brumbies have been priced at (-7.5). I would certainly, if forced to choose, watch the New Zealand matches over the Australian ones, but at the end of the day I am just happy we have got more televised competitive rugby to bet on and will be giving this Australian Tournament my full support.
Another sport which makes a return to action this weekend is F1 with the Austrian Grand Prix and here we have Lewis Hamilton at 37/2 favourite ahead of Max Verstappen 2/1 and you can get 6/1 and better the balance.
Enjoy your sporting weekend
Twitter: @BrentGraham.
This article was written for the CitiGaming supplement of the Citizen Newspaper and was published on the 2 July 2020.
Brent Graham is a blogger on www.goodforthegame.co.za and sends a free weekly e-mail list just CLICK HERE to register