South Africa vs New Zealand Predictions

South Africa vs New Zealand Recommended bet

Handicap No Draw – South Africa +12.5pts @ 10/11 (1.90) with Unibet

South Africa face New Zealand in the sixth and final round of the Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday afternoon.

The Championship may have been decided when the New Zealanders won 35-17 away to Argentina last weekend (clinching their sixth Rugby Championship title in the seven years since Argentina joined the then Tri-Nations tournament), but there’s still plenty to play for in this match, with the All Blacks certain to be out to avenge their shock 36-34 defeat at home to the Springboks three weeks ago.

South Africa will be seeking to prove that the win in New Zealand’s backyard was no one-off fluke and in doing so to send out a message to the rest of the world that they are a major force to be reckoned with.

For the Boks, they followed up that superb victory at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington with a 23-12 win against Australia at the last weekend, so will be looking to end the tournament on another high as part of their preparations for next year’s World Cup in Japan.  It was another impressively tenacious defensive effort from the South Africans against the Wallabies, with them surviving an intense onslaught after the interval.

One significant improvement in the win over Los Pumas in Velez Sarsfield from the defeat to the Boks in Wellington for the All Blacks was that, after missing four of his six shots against South Africa, fly-half Beauden Barrett enjoyed a 100% success rate with his kicking.

Last year the All Blacks won 57-0 against the Springboks in Auckland in the Rugby Championship, but only just edged home 25-24 in the return fixture in Cape Town.  South Africa certainly proved a point in Wellington this year, but Saturday’s game in Pretoria could be every bit as tight as the corresponding fixture in 2017.

South Africa are 4.70 with Unibet to win on Saturday, with New Zealand deemed 1.22 with bet365* to prevail. (Bet365 review)  Those who fancy the draw can get 34.00 also with bet365*.  A better option might be to back South Africa to stay within a Handicap of +12.5 at 1.90 with Unibet.

* Odds correct at the time of writing

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