England vs All Blacks Betting Tips

The Northern Hemisphere teams struck the first blow last week when England defeated South Africa 12-11 at Twickenham despite not scoring a try, but this week marks the first full round of fixtures involving all four big Southern Hemisphere teams.

New Zealand the biggest test

England will be buoyed by the win over South Africa and World Rugby’s decision not to punish fly-half Owen Farrell for his controversial 84^th minute tackle on Andre Esterhuizen.

England coach Eddie Jones has said he’s “100 per cent” sure his team can beat the All Blacks, but they’ll have to overcome form and history to do it. England have lost their last 5 games to the All Blacks, all of them in a 12-month period between November 2013 and November 2014.

For their part, the All Blacks have only lost once all year – a 34-36 loss to South Africa in Wellington in September – and have beaten Australia (3 times), France (3 times), Argentina (twice), and South Africa and Japan once apiece. Even more ominously, they’ve averaged 41.6 points across their 11 games this year, including a 69-31 point drubbing of Japan that included 10 tries – and was achieved by a largely second-string line-up.

England will go into the game missing a number of key players, including Chris Robshaw, Joe Launchbury, and the Vunipola brothers. The All Blacks will have more or less a full squad to choose from, and they’ll be feeling fairly refreshed, given a large group of them flew to London last week while their second-string teammates were walloping the Japanese.

Other Rugby Union Games

Australia will get its first chance to atone for a disappointing Southern Hemisphere season when it visits Wales at Millenium Stadium. The Wallabies finished with a 2-4 win-loss record in the Rugby Championship, and matters went from bad to worse when they suffered another thumping at the hands of the All Blacks in the third and final Bledisloe Cup match, played in Japan at the end of October.

France v South Africa promises to be a beauty, given the South Africans won this fixture 18-17 last year. South Africa is coming off a tough match against England, while France is looking to end the season better than they began it after finishing a lowly fourth in the Six Nations Tournament.

Ireland v Argentina is shaping up to be a bit of a mismatch. Ireland claimed a “Grand Slam” in this year’s Six Nations tournament, beating all five of its competitors, while Argentina, as usual, finished last in the Rugby Championship. The Irish would be fancying their chances of challenging the All Blacks at next year’s World Cup, and will go in hot favourites to defeat Argentina.

England v All Blacks Betting Tips

New Zealand, line of -13.5 @1.90 with Bet365

New Zealand to win by 11-15 @6.00 with Madbookie

Tied game at half time and New Zealand to win @19 with Neds