Rugby Championship – Round 1

The Rugby Championship is an International competition between Argentina, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, which are the top four Rugby Nations in the Southern Hemisphere. Inside the Rugby Championship, there are other trophies contested like the Bledisloe Cup (New Zealand vs Australia), The Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate (South Africa vs Australia), Freedom Cup (South Africa vs New Zealand), and the Puma Trophy (Australia vs Argentina).

Each year, each team will play each other twice, totaling of six games. The host nations alternate each year, so in 2022 Argentina host 2 games against Australia, South Africa host 2 games against New Zealand, Australia host 2 games against South Africa, and New Zealand host 2 games against Argentina. For the close nations, they host one game apiece, so Australia vs New Zealand and South Africa vs Argentina will be split.

This year it will be held from Sunday, August 7, 2022 – Sunday, September 25, 2022.

History of The Rugby Championship

The Rugby Championship began in 2012 following the expansion of the traditional Tri-Nations which consisted of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. Argentina entered the fray as a chance for Rugby to build on the worldwide growth of the sport. Since then, New Zealand has won seven of the nine years played (2020 was contested as a Tri-Nations with South Africa’s COVID situation) with Australia winning in 2015 and South Africa winning in 2019. Argentina has finished last in all but one year, that being 2015 when South Africa finished in last place.

Here are the defending champions of the other trophies:

Bledisloe Cup: New Zealand (Since 2002)

Nelson Mandela Challenge Plate: Australia (Since 2021)

Freedom Cup: New Zealand (Since 2009)

Puma Trophy: Australia (Since 2000)

Rugby Union Bets Overall (2022):

Units Used: 100.1
Units Back: 121.3
Overall Result: +21.2

The Rugby Championship – Round 1 Preview

South Africa vs New Zealand

Sunday 7th August 2022 @ 1:05am AEST – Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit, South Africa

This isn’t going to be a big preview being the first round of the Rugby Championship and we only have their recent test matches to go on.

South Africa had a seesaw series with Wales in South Africa which ended up going to the third test for the decider. South Africa showed their class to sew up the series to set themselves up nicely for the Rugby Championship. Taking on New Zealand at home is the key to this game, with little to no travel for the Springboks over the last month or so and of course, their record is much better against the All Blacks in South Africa. New Zealand leads the overall contests 60-37 with 4 draws, but when it is played in South Africa, it’s 25-24 in favour of the Springboks with 1 draw.

New Zealand is coming off a historic series loss to Ireland which saw questions intensify around the coach, and dare I say it, the Rugby Championship will be the final straw, should the All Blacks fail in this tournament. They have made a handful of changes for this opening match which is slightly concerning when it comes to combinations, but like all good teams, it shouldn’t take long for them to gel.

This will be a tight game, I have no doubt about that, and I am leaning towards the home team purely on that basis alone. Going from facing Ireland to South Africa isn’t going to be an easy feat and the usual All Blacks confidence isn’t there at the moment.

Predictions:

Tip: South Africa ($1.72)

Line: South Africa -1.5 ($1.85)

Margin: South Africa 1-12 ($2.90)

*Prices via NSW TAB as of 05/08/22

Bet: 

South Africa 1-12 | 1u @ $2.90

Argentina vs Australia

Sunday 7th July 2022 @ 5:10am AEST – Estadio Malvinas Argentinas, Mendoza, Argentina

Both teams have had contrasting series coming into this opening match in Argentina.

The Pumas saluted against Scotland in the opening test before they were given a reality check in the second test, getting thumped by 23 points in front of their fans. They fought hard in the third test to a narrow 3-point win to secure the series. Argentina has only won 6 contests against Australia with 4 of them being in Argentina, and like most teams playing in front of a home crowd, it tends to be an equalizer. The Pumas last beat the Wallabies in 2015 and in 2014 was the last time they won a home game against them, which is quite a surprising stat considering how ordinary the Wallabies have been in recent years.

Let’s start on the Wallabies, who have shown a fight and grunt about them that we haven’t seen in some time. It was a cracking series against England on home soil, winning their first test before losing the final two, but they went down fighting. Injuries plagued Australia for the majority of the series so the gap between the test series and the Rugby Championship was well received by some players with injuries.

I really like the Wallabies here to cover the line as over their past 10 wins against the Pumas, the average margin is almost 16 points, with last year’s series being a 19-point and 15-point win to the Wallabies, averaging a 17-point margin. This is a much better Wallabies team in my eyes, and the line on offer is a nice one despite this being the first game of the series.

Predictions:

Tip: Australia ($1.40)

Line: Australia -6.5 ($1.95)

Margin: Australia 13+ ($2.70)

*Prices via NSW TAB as of 05/08/22

Bet: 

Australia -6.5 – 2u @ $1.95