Australia v New Zealand Prediction, Tips & Best Bet – Rugby Championship

We have an Australia v New Zealand prediction for you plus a breakdown of the betting odds, team news and matchups ahead of the penultimate weekend of the Rugby Championship.

How To Watch Australia v New Zealand

When is Australia v New Zealand

6.45 am, Saturday, September 21st.

TV Channel

Sky Sports Main Event

Who are the officiating team?

Referee: Karl Dickson (England)

Assistant Referees: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia), Damian Schneider (Argentina)

TMO: Stuart Terheege (England)

Where is Australia v New Zealand

Accor Stadium, Sydney

Australia v New Zealand Odds

Australia sit bottom of the Rugby Championship and can be gotten at 5/1 to claim their second victory of the competition. New Zealand have also only one win but are far more fancied to double their tally at odds of 1/8. The draw is seen as a 40/1 chance.

Handicap Betting

Australia: +17 @ 7/10

New Zealand: -17 @ 11/10

Handicap Draw: +17 @ 22/1

Team News

Australia Team News

New Zealand Team News

Australia v New Zealand Preview

Australia Form

The Wallabies entered the 2024 Rugby Championship on the back of a dismal 2023 Rugby World Cup where they had a first loss to Fiji in 69 years (15-22), a record-breaking defeat against Wales (40-6) which resulted in their first-ever pool stage elimination in the competition. Eddie Jones departed the Head Coach position, and he was replaced with the high-profile addition of Joe Schmidt.

Their 2024 season started more positively though defeating Wales 25-16 with Joe Schmidt giving 7 players debuts including Liam Wright who captained the side in his first cap becoming the first to do so since Ken Catchpole v Fiji in 1961. That was followed by a 36-28 win again over Wales.

They returned to action following a break in July when they were victorious by a 40-29 against Georgia. However, they got a reality check in their opening two Rugby Championship fixtures losing to World Champions South Africa 7-33 and 12-30. Following that their first win came against Argentina 19-20 though the following fixture was a hammering by them 67-27.

New Zealand Form

The All Blacks suffered World Cup Final heartbreak at the hands of Australia last October by a narrow 11-12 scoreline. However, they did enter this Rugby Championship as the reigning champions following their victory in the competition last year.

They returned to action following their World Cup disappointment with a narrow 16-15 victory over England in the first test and they then secured the series with a 24-17 win over them in the second test. That was followed by a convincing 47-5 win over Fiji.

Their Rugby Championship defence commenced with a shock 30-38 loss against Argentina before they put the story right with a 42-10 win in their second game. However, they then came unstuck to the Springboks (albeit narrowly again) 31-27 and 18-12 which means they’re currently 3 ^rd in the Rugby Championship only ahead of Australia.

Australia v New Zealand Rugby Head-To-Head

All-Time Head-To-Head Record

Australia and New Zealand have been playing against each other in Test Match Rugby since 1903 when the All Blacks beat the Wallabies in Sydney 22–3.

From the 177 Test Matches between both sides, New Zealand have been victorious on 124 occasions and Australia have won 45 times, only 8 draws have occurred.

New Zealand have scored a cumulative of 2,223 points compared to Australia’s 1,771.

Head-To-Head Results Last Five Matches

2023: New Zealand won 23- 20 in Forsyth Barr Stadium

2023: New Zealand won 7- 38 in Melbourne Cricket Ground

2022: New Zealand won 40-14 in Eden Park

2022: New Zealand won 37-39 in Docklands Stadium Melbourne

2021: New Zealand won 21-38 in Perth Stadium

Trends

New Zealand have won 7 of the last 7 tests between both sides with the last Wallabies win coming in the 2020 Tri Nation Series when they won 24-22 in Brisbane back in November 2020.

Key Players

Noah Lolesio – Australia

One of the bright spots in this Australian team is ironically New Zealand-born Noah Lolesio who despite only being 24 has already been playing with the Senior International side since debuting in 2020 where from 23 caps he has scored 164 points.

Noah is Australia’s top-scorer in the competition with 19 points scored which is only bettered by four other players. His standout showing came in their sole victory when he made 2/2 conversions and 1/2 penalties in their 19-20 win over Argentina.

Despite plenty of criticism for his overall performances recently, Schmidt likes him and so this will be a huge game for him Saturday as he looks to prove some of his doubters wrong.

Will Jordan – New Zealand

Howlett, Savea, Lomu and many, many more are the greatest New Zealand try-scorers ever, but Speedster Will Jordan (26) is quickly putting himself in similar conversations amongst the rugby faithful since making his debut for the Kiwis in 2020 he has racked up an impressive tally of 165 points from 35 caps.

Surprisingly for a player of his prolificness, Jordan has yet to score a single point in the 2024 Rugby Championship with him constantly being switched from #14 to #15 and back throughout the different games. However, against arguably the weakest team in the tournament and with the #14 jersey for this game he could be in line to finally do a wreck on the scoreboard

Australia v New Zealand Prediction & Best Bet

Prediction: Australia 10-30 New Zealand

Australian Rugby is evidently in transition and though performances and signs have begun to pick up under Joe Schmidt they remain bottom of the Rugby Championship and face a New Zealand side who they haven’t defeated in 4 years.

New Zealand were of course Rugby World Cup finalists a year ago and the reigning Rugby Championship holders. However, they’ve only one win in this competition so far and though they ran the Springboks close on both occasions they need a win in this game as losing is never an option for the All Blacks.

Australia looks to be progressing, but the All Blacks remain an entirely different challenge for them and I can see them receiving another convincing beating.

Best Bet: Will Jordan First Try Scorer @ 6/1

*Prices are subject to fluctuation.

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