24 July 2019, by: Quintin van Jaarsveld

RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP PREDICTIONS – ROUND 2

Will lightning strike twice when the Springboks return to Wellington to tackle the All Blacks in a titanic Rugby Championship clash on Saturday?

After securing a famous win at the Cake Tin last year, the Boks return to the venue hell-bent on repeating their 2018 heroics, while the All Blacks will be seeking redemption.

Across the Tasman, Australia will have to be at their best if they are to see off a dangerous Argentinian side in Brisbane.

Here’s how we see the second round of this year’s truncated tournament playing out.

A Test match of epic proportions. Both teams have been targeting this much-anticipated ‘rematch’ since the start of the year. Steve Hansen and Rassie Erasmus both regard Saturday’s showdown as THE most important clash of the build-up to the World Cup, with the sides set to collide in their opening group match of the global showpiece in Yokohama on September 21.

Both coaches consequently fielded ‘B’ teams last weekend, and although both emerged victorious, the performances produced were vastly different. The Boks smashed the Wallabies at Ellis Park, while the All Blacks scraped past Los Pumas in Buenos Aires.

These results add even more significance to Saturday’s clash, essentially making it a Rugby Championship decider. Add to that the Boks’ stunning 36-34 win in the corresponding confrontation last year, and supporters are in for something special.

The ‘A’ teams are back, so last weekend’s performances are nothing to go by. The Boks will, however, have a spring in their step and the stars of the 35-17 win who earned places in this weekend’s match 23 will bring that confidence to the team. Erasmus won’t look to reinvent the wheel in search of a second successive win in Wellington, but he did warn that they’ll have ‘a few new tricks’ up their sleeve.

The All Blacks are an incredibly proud team and in that sense, they haven’t had this much to play for since, arguably, the 2015 World Cup final against Australia as they aim to make up for last Saturday’s poor performance and more importantly, last year’s stinging loss.

If any Bok team can go back-to-back in New Zealand, you’d have to think it’s this one under the shrewd Erasmus, but given the history, both recent and all the way back to the teams’ first clash in 1921, the All Blacks are poised to pip it.

Prediction: New Zealand by 3.

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This should also be a hard-fought battle. Playing at home will be a welcome advantage in the Wallabies’ eyes, but at the same time, travelling won’t come with any fear for Los Pumas, with most of the side made up of Jaguares stars who had great success in Australasia in this year’s Super Rugby tournament.

With home ground advantage comes a level of expectation and thus added pressure on embattled Michael Cheika and his struggling side who’re coming off a heavy defeat in a match many thought they’d win and a 2018 season that yielded just four wins from 13 outings. This close to the World Cup, Rugby Australia are married to the outspoken, under-delivering Cheika until after the global tournament. A loss here, however, would be catastrophic.

Argentina oh so nearly shocked the rugby world against the All Blacks last weekend. They could and probably should have won the Buenos Aires encounter, which would have been their first-ever victory over New Zealand. There were plenty of positives to take out of the heart-breaking 20-16 loss, though, especially as it pertains to the Aussies.

Los Pumas were outstanding in the air, winning the aerial battle against the All Blacks all evening, which Emiliano Boffelli beautifully punctuated with his try. Without Israel Folau, the king of the sky, the Wallabies are no longer ‘bulletproof’ in this regard and can expect an aerial assault from the Argentinians.

It’s bound to be a tactical battle – an arm-wrestle between two teams who’ll rely heavily on their packs to get them over the line. Argentina won’t have the “16th man” to aid them in terms of their raucous home crowd, but I still fancy them coming out on top Down Under.

Prediction: Argentina by 5.

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