South Africa vs. New Zealand
Kick Off: 16:05, Growthpoint Kings Park, Durban
With the Rugby Championship already wrapped up, New Zealand can equal the Tier 1 record for consecutive Test wins with a victory over South Africa. Their build-up has been disjointed, following the off-field issues with Aaron Smith, but it would take extreme bravery to bet against them.
If there’s one team who the All Blacks wouldn’t want to face in this record breaking game, it would be the Springboks in South Africa. They’ve abandoned the free-flowing style that they found difficult to adopt earlier on in the tournament and they’ve returned to the traditional South African territory game.
Teams
South Africa: 15 Pat Lambie (52 caps, Sharks), 14 Francois Hougaard (38, Worcester Warriors), 13 Juan de Jongh (18, Stormers), 12 Damian de Allende (19, Stormers), 11 Bryan Habana (122, Toulon), 10 Morne Steyn (65, Stade Francais), 9 Faf de Klerk (7, Lions); 1 Tendai Mtawarira (83, Sharks), 2 Adriaan Strauss (62, Captain, Bulls), 3 Vincent Koch (6, Stormers), 4 Eben Etzebeth (52, Stormers), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit (16, Stormers), 6 Francois Louw (51, Bath), 7 Oupa Mahoje (13, Cheetahs), 8 Warren Whiteley (11, Lions)
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi (2, Stormers), 17 Steven Kitshoff (6, Bordeaux), 18 Julian Redelinghuys (7, Lions), 19 Lood de Jager (24, Cheetahs), 20 Willem Alberts (40, Stade Francais), 21 Jaco Kriel (16, Bulls), 22 Lionel Mapoe (8, Lions), 23 Willie le Roux (38, Canon Eagles)
New Zealand: 15 Ben Smith (56 caps, Highlanders), 14 Israel Dagg (56, Crusaders), 13 Anton Lienert-Brown (4, Chiefs), 12 Ryan Crotty (22, Crusaders), 11 Waisake Naholo (7, Highlanders), 10 Beauden Barrett (44, Hurricanes), 9 TJ Perenara (24, Hurricanes); 1 Joe Moody (18, Crusaders), 2 Dane Coles (44, Hurricanes), 3 Owen Franks (85, Crusaders), 4 Brodie Retallick (55, Chiefs), 5 Sam Whitelock (80, Crusaders), 6 Jerome Kaino (73, Blues), 7 Matt Todd (4, Crusaders), 8 Kieran Read (92, Captain, Crusaders)
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor (9, Crusaders), 17 Wyatt Crockett (53, Crusaders), 18 Charlie Faumuina (40, Blues), 19 Liam Squire (4, Highlanders), 20 Ardie Savea (7, Hurricanes), 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow (22, Chiefs), 22 Lima Sopoaga (4, Highlanders), 23 George Moala (2, Blues)
Key Match Up: Morne Steyn vs. Beauden Barrett
Both fly halves vastly contrast in styles. Morne Steyn’s kicking game indicates that the Springboks will return to their territory based game plan and his four penalties and two drop goals ensured that he was the only South African name on the scoresheet in their game against Australia last week. If the Boks can execute a strong kick chase, they might be able to force the All Blacks to play from their own half, which is a tactic that’s worked before.
Beauden Barrett has been the best player in the world in 2016 and his playmaking skills have been a key part in a record breaking year for the All Blacks. If he plays well on Saturday, this game could be over by half time.
Stats
– The All Blacks have won eight of their last nine matches against South Africa.
– Morne Steyn scored 31 points for the Springboks the last time these two teams met in Durban (2009), the most by a single player against New Zealand.
– The All Blacks have already broken two records in this year’s Rugby Championship, scoring 205 points and 29 tries.
Odds
– South Africa to win (NetBet odds 7/2)
– New Zealand to win (NetBet odds 2/11)
Argentina vs. Australia
Kick Off: 19:30, Twickenham Stadium
Argentina take their home game to London this weekend in a rematch of last year’s World Cup semi-final in the same stadium. The Pumas failed to convert their chances that day and they’ve continued to struggle in that regard. They’ve made more clean breaks than any other side, but have lack the ruthlessness in the opposition 22 to capitalise on these chances.
A strong first half performance by Australia was followed up with a poor second half which culminated in defeat for the Wallabies last week. Simple errors and issues with the lineout lead to Morne Steyn kicking them into submission and Australian discipline went later on in the game as well.
Teams
Argentina: 15 Joaquin Tuculet (36 caps, Jaguares), 14 Matias Moroni (14, Jaguares), 13 Matias Orlando (16, Jaguares), 12 Santiago Gonzalez Iglesias (27, Jaguares), 11 Manuel Montero (26, Jaguares), 10 Nicolas Sanchez (47, Jaguares), 9 Martin Landajo (61, Jaguares); 1 Lucas Noguera (26, Jaguares), 2 Agustin Creevy (54, Captain, Jaguares), 3 Ramiro Herrera (27, Jaguares), 4 Guido Petti (19, Jaguares), 5 Matias Alemanno (26, Jaguares), 6 Pablo Matera (30, Jaguares), 7 Javier Ortega Desio (27, Jaguares), 8 Leonardo Senatore (39, Jaguares)
Replacements: 16 Julian Montoya (24, Jaguares), 17 Santiago Garcia Botta (9, Jaguares), 18 Enrique Pieretto (7, Cordoba), 19 Marcos Kremer (2, Atletico del Rosario), 20 Tomas Cubelli (53, Brumbies), 21 Juan Manuel Leguizamon (72, Jaguares), 22 Jeronimo de la Fuente (22, Jaguares), 23 Ramiro Moyano (10, Jaguares)
Australia: 15 Israel Folau (46 caps, Waratahs), 14 Dane Haylett-Petty (8, Western Force), 13 Samu Kerevi (6, Queensland Reds), 12 Bernard Foley (35, Waratahs), 11 Reece Hodge (4, Melbourne Rebels), 10 Quade Cooper (62, Unattached) 9 Will Genia (71, Stade Francais); 1 Scott Sio (23, Brumbies), 2 Stephan Moore (110, Captain, Brumbies), 3 Sekope Kepu (71, Waratahs), 4 Rory Arnold (4, Brumbies), 4 Adam Coleman (5, Western Force), 6 Dean Mumm (51, Waratahs), 7 Michael Hooper (59, Waratahs), 8 Lopeti Timani (1, Melbourne Rebels)
Replacements: James Hanson (10, Melbourne Rebels), Tom Robertson (2, Waratahs), Allan Alaalatoa (3, Brumbies), Kane Douglas (27, Queensland Reds), Scott Fardy (36, Brumbies), Leroy Houston (0, Queensland Reds), Nick Phipps (46, Waratahs), Tevita Kuridrani (39, Brumbies), Sefa Naivalu (1, Melbourne Rebels). (One to be omitted)
Key Match Up: Leonardo Senatore vs. Lopeti Timani
Leonardo Senatore has to fill in for Facundo Isa who’s been outstanding in the tournament so far. Senatore is more experienced that his teammate, but he’ll have to replicate Isa’s performances if the Pumas are going to win at Twickenham.
This will be Timani’s first start for Australia and he’s a throwback to the traditional No.8, which the Wallabies haven’t used or seen for a long time. It’ll be interesting to see how he fits into a back row trio that fixates on the breakdown.
Stats
– This will be the ninth time Argentina have played at Twickenham, winning once, drawing once and losing 6 times. The last time they played there was against Australia in the 2015 Rugby World Cup semi-final.
– Australia are the only team to have a lineout success rate below 90% in the Rugby Championship. They lose 2.6 throws per game on average.
– Michael Hooper (61) has made 10 more tackles than anyone else in the tournament. Three Australian players are at the top of the missed tackle stats as well (Foley 14, Haylett-Petty 13, Mumm 11)
Odds
– Argentina to win (NetBet odds 11/5)
– Australia to win (NetBet odds 20/59)