Australia vs New Zealand
31st October 0845hrs
Rugby – Australia- Bledisloe Cup
Pick New Zealand -11 handicap
Bookmaker Betvictor
Odds: 19/20 odds taken 0633 GMT, Thursday, 29th October
After narrowly getting a draw in their opening match of this four-Test Bledisloe Cup series against Australia, New Zealand stomped their authority over the Wallabies in match two.
That was at Eden Park, the spiritual home of New Zealand rugby, the All Blacks powering their way to a 20-point victory.
Now the action moves to Australia. Can the Wallabies mount a fightback and take this to a decider?
Table of Contents
Australia Preview – Australia have to make it count
Australia should have won the opening match of this 2020 Bledisloe Cup series.
They were ahead with only a few minutes on the clock in that opening match in Wellington but were just pegged back.
Then in extra time, they missed a shot at goal to get the win and the fixture ended up in a thrilling 16-16 draw.
At the end of the day that was a huge missed opportunity for Australia, because of having to go to Eden Park for the second match.
Very, very rarely do New Zealand fail to win in Auckland. Australia fell to a 27-7 defeat in that match at Eden Park.
So this is a must-win situation for them now or the Bledisloe Cup will go.
But Australia are the 11/4 underdogs for this home fixture* (odds taken 0633 GMT, Thursday, 29th October).
Some big issues came to light for Australia at Eden Park as they failed to end their 34 year losing streak there.
The Wallabies just had no defensive answer to what the All Blacks were throwing at them at all.
They were at times the orchestrators of their own downfall as well, producing a lot of handling errors.
That’s what pressure and a fired up All Blacks team can do to you.
In the handicap market for rugby betting, an Australia +11 option is at 10/11* (odds taken 0633 GMT, Thursday, 29th October).
Australia were just caught flat footed too many times in the second half. They now have a mountain to climb to try and take their first Bledisloe Cup title since 2003.
New Zealand Preview – New Zealand to power on?
It wasn’t a great performance from New Zealand in that opening 2020 Bledisloe Cup match.
Having not played for such a long time, a new coach and a relatively new squad as well, could have played a part in that.
But fired up from that poor performance, they were on it in match two.
The star of the show was Jonah Lomu-esque Caleb Clarke, who on his first start, dominated the show.
It was just a phenomenal show of running power from the winger, breaking 12 tackles on the eight runs that he had at Australia.
On one-second half run Clarke took out five would-be tacklers to create space for Ardie Savea to score.
He is power personified and he looks as if the former sevens star is going to go and just destroy defences.
Clarke is the even money favourite in the Anytime Trysocrer market for Saturday’s clash* (odds taken 0633 GMT, Thursday, 29th October).
But for all of their improved tenacity, power and confidence, the All Blacks were under some pressure at the end of the game.
Things could have been a lot closer were it not for some drastic scrambling defence to keep out an Australia response, and for Australia getting penalised for a double-movement.
Don’t miss out on other Betting Tips & Predictions
Click here for more Betting Tips
New Zealand are the 3/10 odds-on favourites for this meeting in Sydney* (odds taken 0633 GMT, Thursday, 29th October).
The last time that the two great rivals met at the Stadium Australia, was in 2018, the All Blacks taking a 38-13 victory on the day.
New Zealnda have now lost just one of their last nine Tests against the Wallabies (W7 D1).
But interestingly the last time that New Zealand crossed the Tasman Sea, they were themselves, torn to shreds.
That was in a 47-26 verse that the All Blacks suffered in Perth last year.
Australia vs New Zealand Betting Advice
Australia are not totally without hope here. They did however, get a lot of the fundamentals very, very wrong last time out.
They couldn’t hold off the ferocity of the All Blacks at the breakdown and we’re feeling the pressure from that.
But until a second-half blitz of tries in Auckland, Australia were still in touch at the mid-way point of the game.
Key Facts – Australia vs New Zealand Betting Tip
- Australia have won one of the last nine against New Zealand (D1 L7)
- Australia have to win to keep the series alive
- New Zealand lost their last trip to Australia (2019)
Both sides still looked rusty, as there were a lot of handling errors. But New Zealand dusted themselves down so well.
They switched tactically for the first receivers, got Beauden Barret back and had Clarke getting them on the front foot whenever he had the ball.
Australia has to be smarter with the ball. But we still see them coming up short.
New Zealand have had a sniff of weakness now and will likely exploit them.
A New Zealand 1-12 winning margin is at 9/5* (odds taken 0633 GMT, Thursday, 29th October).
The best betting odds for Australia vs New Zealand
Australia to win: 11/4 at Bet365
Draw: 22/1 at Bet365
New Zealand to win: 3/10 at Bet365
