Bet on Canes to blow Chiefs away

Last weekend was pretty straightforward although the spreads were difficult to predict in a couple of the games. There is limited action on the Super Rugby front this weekend with the Canes taking on the Chiefs, in a match where I’m predicting the home team will exact revenge for their close loss earlier in the year. I still rate them the team to beat overall and wouldn’t be surprised if they kick on as they did last year. The Chiefs played well against the Crusaders a fortnight ago, but lacked composure in the big moments of the game where they certainly had their chances.

This is the best Rugby 5 I have seen for a while featuring an all international line-up.

Italy take on a resurgent Scotland and they will do well to stay in touch with a team that I think were the big improvers in the Six Nations this year. They have a new coach in Gregor Townsend and may take some time to get used to his systems; they have a weakened squad with injuries to key players, some players on the Lions tour and some players being rested as a result of exhaustion, but I fancy them to win big.

Argentina used to be a tough place to play, but a few teams were knocking the Jaguares over in the last few weeks and I think the 12/10 odds with Betting World on an England win is good value given that they were unbeaten until the last game of the Six Nations against a strong Irish team. Still, it is a game which means much to the Argentinians, as the Falklands are always in their minds when they play their old foes.

The US take on Ireland at home, and wouldn’t it be amazing if their 15-man team could emulate the feats of their Sevens side. This is a young Irish team, but they also ran the Boks close at home with a similar looking team, missing six of their best players.

Having said that, I expect their professionalism to pull them through.

Go wide on Canada versus Georgia as either team could win. Canada have been misfiring of late, and Georgia continue to impress (rugby is the fastest growing sport in the country).

Lastly and most importantly, France take on the Boks at Loftus Versfeld tomorrow. We can’t get any worse than we were last year, where we dropped to seventh in the world. Despite the scandalous results, we still have a country full of optimism, and most here expect us to win all three games. But neither optimism nor history will dictate the result.

There are a couple of positives in Warren Whiteley being named captain where I think his infectious enthusiasm and exceptional workrate could rub off on to his team-mates, and the addition of Brendan Venter could be a valuable boon to the squad.

I’m still not convinced about selection for the Boks and they have some players missing, but they should be more cohesive on defence than they were in the November